Over a hundred kids and their parents had fun Saturday during Bowling Against Bullying at The Bowling Alley in Warsaw.
They bowled, ate pizza, drank soda, played arcade games, went through an obstacle course outside, received T-shirts and won prizes - all for free thanks to many donors.

    Kayleigh McQuiller (L) and Raylee Wiggs enjoy the free pizza and soda at Bowling Against Bullying Saturday at The Bowling Alley in Warsaw. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

But for about seven minutes of the three-hour event, participants heard from two speakers on the topic that was the focus of the annual event - bullying.
Aaron Ball, co-founder of Rio’s Rainbow with his wife Niki, said in 2022 their daughter Rio died by suicide after relentless bullying at her school. Rio had Alopecia, which causes all of a person’s hair to fall out, which led to the “evil and angry treatment toward her,” he said.
The last two years, the Balls have spent a lot of time mentoring other families that are going through or have gone through what they had.
“We also work with the schools, local government, to try to bring about change in our schools,” Aaron said. “One of the things that I wanted to share today about Rio is her entire life, she was an advocate for the underdog. Even while she going through her own personal pain, she still took time - almost daily - to witness other things happening to other kids and speaking up. Giving them love. Talking with them. And try to make things easier for other people.”
He said that’s what he wants for all kids: For them to be advocates for kids who can’t stand up for themselves and also to reach out when they can not stand up for themselves. Aaron said they need everybody’s attention on the issues in schools, neighborhoods and the entire state of Indiana.
For more about Rio’s Rainbow, visit the website at https://riosrainbow.org/.
The second speaker was Rachel Van Alstine, Parent Coalition for Child Safety and Awareness.

    At least 107 kids and their parents took part in Bowling Against Bullying Saturday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

“Our Parent Coalition started after Rio’s tragedy. We came together as a community and we formed a parent coalition because what we realized is that what Rio experienced was happening by the masses,” she said. “Rio was bullied, assaulted, verbally abused. The teachers knew. The administration knew. And there was no record that any of it happened.”
Van Alstine said what they uncovered were massive gaps in child safety.
“We learned that your child could be abused at school, you report it, you have meetings. You pull your child’s record, there’s no proof that it ever happened,” she said.
If a parent has a child who has been bullied and it’s been reported, Van Alstine said they can now pull their child’s record because of the efforts of the Parent Coalition.
“We went and testified at the Indiana Senate in April 2023 and we were able to get legislation passed that now requires that schools must document bullying and abusive behavior of victims. Prior to that, it didn’t exist,” she said.
The law went into effect July 1, 2023, Van Alstine said, and this last school year they closely monitored what went on in their schools. There are over six school districts represented on the Parent Coalition and is now statewide.
“What we learned is that they’re still not documenting it. We were told that the bill didn’t have teeth. That educational law is just a recommendation because there’s no consequences for not documenting. And so we’re going back for more legislation,” she stated.
The Parent Coalition has started a Change.org petition, which is calling on the state of Indiana to be the first state in the United States to institute a Child State of Emergency, making child safety the number one priority in Indiana.
Their first Speak Our Truth rally is noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 21 at Elkhart Civic Plaza, 350 S. Main St., Elkhart.
“These are the things that are difficult to talk about, but it’s going to take all of us getting real vulnerable together if we really want to see change for our children,” Van Alstine said.

    Some of the free raffle prizes for Bowling Against Bullying are shown. The bicycles were raffled off at the end. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Bowling Against Bullying continues to grow to help make a change, according to Paul Nowak, Bowling Against Bullying board member.
“We started out, we probably had 60 to 70 kids the first year and now we’ve maxed out lanes in a matter of 45 minutes. It’s amazing to see how far it’s grown,” he said.
Nowak credited founder Shaun Mudd, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office school resource officer, for doing a lot of work to keep it going.
“He promotes it all throughout the year, and as a board we offer our support, but it’s Mudd that drives all of this. He’s the one that’s out and about and all the donations and everything go through him,” Nowak said.
An event like Bowling Against Bullying brings to light the fact that a lot of kids are bullied, he said.
In the first half of Saturday’s event, Mudd said it was going “hairy, crazy and the fastest three hours of my life, really. Every year it seems like I’m nervous. I don’t know how many people are going to show up, if anybody is going to show up. And then every year it just goes fast and it’s a ton of people.”
Every year he’s thankful for the support for the event.
“I’m always amazed by the outreach, especially for the scholarship. We had two years to raise it, and we did it in like 15 months. We raised $26,000, which is crazy to think about. Very humbling really,” Mudd said.

    Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Justin Smith (R) and School Resource Officer Joel Popenfoose (L) hand out the free T-shirts and bags at Saturday’s Bowling Against Bullying. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Bowling Against Bullying began when, in 2017, Mudd found out about a student who was being bullied at a local school. Touched by the student’s story, he wanted to do something special for him and other bullied students. It was supposed to have been a one-time thing when he and a friend gathered door prizes and paid for food and lanes. It became an annual event and a nonprofit.
As of the halfway point of Saturday’s Bowling Against Bullying, 107 kids had taken part in the event.
Jennifer Stichter, general manager for The Bowling Alley, said they’ve hosted Bowling Against Bullying every year and it always draws in a nice crowd.
“I think it’s important to always promote good family relationships and good school relationships and keep kids safe and keep them from having harm done to them,” she said.
Amber Zollinger brought three of her kids to the event and it was their first year to take part, but she plans to come back next year.
“I think it’s great. I think it’s a great thing for the community, get kids here, teach about bullying. Get kids to get together, have fun, not worry about money. It’s a good cause,” she said. “Honestly, I just think this is great. I’ve never been to anything like this before in my life. I think it’s awesome.”

    Kosciusko County Prosecutor Brad Voelz (L) and Sheriff Jim Smith (second from left) stop by Saturday’s Bowling Against Bullying event to see if they can lend a hand to the event. Pictured on the right are Bowling Against Bullying board member Paul Nowak and founder Shaun Mudd (R). Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith said his department’s efforts in addressing bullying starts with the school resource officers.
“They’re obviously boots on the ground and they’re going to be more made aware of it with the rapport that they build with the kids on a day-to-day basis. So they can try to address it in a more one-on-one manner. Rather than bringing a lot of attention to it, they can actually talk to the kids and maybe break it down, explain to them why it’s not OK. That’s imperative, having the officers there in the schools and building that relationship with the kids,” he said.
He said he couldn’t reiterate enough how big of a win it was when his department put an additional officer at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School, and Joel Popenfoose as an SRO at additional Warsaw schools, in part to help combat bullying.
Smith said Bowling Against Bullying has grown over the years because “somebody decided to be vocal about it and stand up against it, and, obviously, with the turnout that Shaun’s had here, it’s a testament to that it is a real issue and so many people can relate to it. So the more voices you have and the more people stand up against it, I think we can mitigate it together.”
He said he was very proud of Mudd and his efforts in this matter.