Stephen Wessler, an expert of bullying, fields questions from the audience at the Kroc Center Wednesday evening. (Photo: Duane Rasmussen)

Stephen Wessler told attendees at the Kroc Center on Wednesday night that his efforts to combat bullying were inspired during a case he worked on as a state prosecutor, involving a ninth-grade gay student. The boy had been bullied throughout the school year by several other students. Hateful speech quickly evolved into physical harassment. One day, the bullies followed the boy home from school, beat him and held him over a third story balcony saying next time they saw him they would drop him over the edge. "When something like that happens everyone focuses on the last awful event," Wessler said. "But everybody looks in the wrong places. That's the end, not the beginning"/Keith Cousins, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Related:

• Expert: Bullying common in Coeur d'Alene schools/Scott Maben, SR
• Wessler sees courage, empathy in Coeur d'Alene schools/Maureen Dolan, Press

Question: Were you ever bullied?