Marion Teen Testifies About Cyber Bullying in Senate Hearing

You may remember Matt Shankles — he's the Marion teen and student, with an story centered around his tireless fight against bullying, while still bullied.

His story was so powerful that our profile of him went viral. He was later featured on the Advocate and CNN, among other outlets.

But now it seems like he’s outdone himself yet again, as last Friday he testified as a witness in a field hearing held by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee at East High School in Des Moines.

Harkin called out the 16-year-old teen and noted his creative use of social media to reach out to his cyber bullied classmates.

"I’ve just been brainlocked into thinking social media could just be used to harm," Harkin said, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier.

Also, the story also mentioned that Shankles has another feather in his cap. He’s recently been named a student ambassador of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a New York-based advocacy group.

"It’s like a boulder, it keeps rolling downhill," he told the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier.