Four classes of seventh and eighth graders at Campbell Junior High School broke into groups Thursday to discuss school safety, violence and bullying.

The discussions were the last part of the Clark County Community Foundation’s “On the Table” events. Blue Grass Community Foundation launched “On the Table” events in Lexington last year and expanded it to Clark County this year.

On The Table is a national initiative supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, according to a press release. Conversations took place in Fayette, Clark, Franklin and Woodford counties.

Halee Cunningham, gift planning officer and deputy counsel at BGCF, said the foundation will use all of the data from the community events and begin working with the school system to identify the next steps in implementing some of the proposed solutions that have come about from other discussions.

At Campbell, eighth graders in Jan Horn’s class talked about personal experiences with bullying, cyberbullying, racism and family issues.

In one group, a majority of the students said they were more worried and concerned when thinking about what the future holds for their community over the next five years.

“Words can hurt worse than being physically hurt,” Horn said.

Students expressed the need for more support in school such as a peer-to-peer support group to deal with these prevalent issues.