#StandWithKeaton Hashtag Aims To Start Nationwide Conversation On Bullying

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A video posted to social media last week shows an 11-year-old boy telling his mom about the bullying he faces at school every day.

It's gotten an unexpected response since it was posted Friday, and as CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported, it may also spark a national conversation about the problem.

A tearful Keaton Jones opened up to his mother Kimberly about bullies throwing milk and food on him at school in Knoxville, Tennessee.

"They make fun of my nose, they call me ugly," he can be heard saying.

Kimberly posted the video on Facebook Friday and it's now been viewed more than 20 million times.

"It really hurts me to see that," local mom Maria Weiss said. "It makes me want to cry, really honestly as a mom and someone who has gone through that."

Others who spoke with CBS2 question why Keaton's mom would put her son's private pain on display for the world to see.

"Hopefully when things like this happen something good can come of it," anti-bullying expert Tara Fishler said. Fishler leads workshops at schools across Westchester County. She doesn't recommend taping your child, but hopes the new hashtag #StandWithKeaton can do for bullying what the #MeToo hashtag is doing to shed light on sexual harassment.

"There's a kind of #MeToo thing because a lot of kids will definitely relate to it," Fishler said. "A lot of adults grow up with this kind of horror that happened to them as teens."

Celebrities are already rallying around Keaton, who has a message for other victims of bullying.

"If you're made fun of just don't let it bother you," he said on Facebook. "Stay strong, I guess. It's hard, but it'll probably get better one day."

LeBron James and Snoop Dogg both tweeted their support for Keaton, and "Captain America" star Chris Evans invited him to Hollywood for the premier of the next "Avengers" movie.