Hi my name is Tony.
I was kind of lucky when I grew up; I was a large burly lad and can’t ever remember being bullied.
I have always hated bullying, I’ve never understood it. It seems that some person develops a problem because they perceive that the person they are bullying won’t or can’t defend themselves. It’s obviously the bully’s insecurities that drive that behavior.
It has been many years but I only remember a couple of special needs kids in high school. I remember one kid in particular. He was fascinated by coins, kids would throw coins across the cafeteria and he would chase them. The kids would laugh. I never really found that to be funny. I regret not stepping in to help him; I was certainly capable of doing it.
The reason I bring this up is I have seen a number of videos and stories of kids stepping in and not allowing that behavior to go on. I saw one story of a young lady who was being teased because of her speech impediment. Her mother called and asked for help. The entire football team made sure nobody ever teased her again. This is the part of the story that usually makes Biz cry. This young lady taught all of these kids about love and understanding. She now goes to every game and has become their spiritual leader. Every kid on that team has gained far more than they ever gave.
Also the story of the special needs child that loved basketball. He became the teams manager, and the kids excepted him as one of their own. On the last game of the year the coach allowed him to suit up, and sit on the bench. With minutes left they put him in the game and every kid passed the ball to him to shoot. Unfortunately he missed two shots. It was at that point that a kid from the other team passed him the ball allowing him the make the shot. He was overjoyed and was carried off the court by the whole team.
I have seen a lot of these kinds of stories recently, but unfortunately you still see kids bullied. Stories like those above give me hope.
I am blessed that I have a wonderful son, he is supportive and a great young man. I don’t believe he would allow anyone to be teased or bullied around him (unless it’s me).
With the political climate so acidic, it might be ok when these kids get a little older. Maybe they can figure out how to play well with others.
Tony
Thanks for that guest post Tony! And he’s not lying. I literally have to stop in my tracks if there are news stories or documentaries about kids like that. I’ve attached the videos for you to see, and I am pretty sure you won’t have a dry eye after watching them! If the screens are blank, just click on them – you’ll be clicking on the video.
Here is a PicMonkey collage of my day:
I found an app called PRO HDR, and I love it. It costs $1.99, but I am still using iTunes gift cards. From the top left 1. me holding Tony’s hand when he was in the hospital in January, Zataran’s for Fat Tuesday for dinner, fruit for breakfast, sausage and Zataran’s for dinner, the snow out side the indoor pool, a picture from Valentine’s day I turned into a drawing on PRO HDR, the sunset driving home, breakfast burrito, more cheese tortellini lasagna soup for lunch, me at the gym before work, Phil Collins on the radio, my bad ass upper body strength training before work (8 pounds, NOT 20 pound weights!), sausage bubbling in the rice maker with the red beans and rice, my beer from a couple weeks ago turned into a drawing using PRO HDR, my updated Pinterest page of My Bizzy Kitchen – 211 recipes and counting! – my car about to hit 20,000 miles, and the middle picture – having the pool to myself at lunch!
Question of the Day: Were you ever bullied? Were your kids ever bullied? I am so proud of these kids who stand up to bullying – makes the world a better place to live in knowing the next generation cares.
Make it a great day!
WOW just wow! I didn’t watch the videos but got teary eyed and choked up on the second story. Thank you Tony and Biz.
Great post. Bullying is a terrible thing for kids to go through. Not having been bullied as a kid, not having kids of my own or being around them much, this isn’t a topic I generally take a particular interest in, but I’m glad Tony posted about it. As with any issue, bringing visibility is a start. And no, my eyes were NOT dry after watching those videos! God bless those kids!
I always cry watching videos like that!
I’m crying reading this – thank you so much for posting!!!
I haven’t run into any issues yet with Logan. He’s the really tall kid though, so generally, I think at this early elementary age those kids are left alone. HIs gym teacher did tell me a story of how he stood up for another kid though! Apparently they had to do the bear crawl in gym class. This chubbier kid, who is on L’s baseball team, was going and his pants slipped down…..you can imagine the laughs and giggles from 6 & 7 year olds. Logan yelled ‘HEY! How would you like it if all your pants came down and we were laughing at you?’ Seeing that Logan is tall, and a bit authoritative, everyone stopped laughing instantly. One of my proudest moments! I hope he stays this way!
That’s an awesome story Courtney! Yeah Logan!
I was bullied by the kids that lived downstairs from us. They would not allow me to step on the porch to get to the stairs that lead to our apartment. I was young then, under the age of 7. So I would have to figure out how to climb from the last stair before the porch to where our steps started. Well my mother saw me doing this one day. She asked me why I was doing that, since I could fall and really hurt myself. I told her about the kids. Do you know my mother took her belt and chased those kids? Yeah, when my mom is mad watch out she is not playing.
There were a few other times that stick out in my head of being bullied. I will refrain from sharing all the stories. But the other one was every day this black girl would push me down and pull my hair. It never failed. I am mixed, part white and Black/Native American. So by the grace of God and some good genes. I have very nice curly hair. Much different than black people. Looking back now, I am guessing she was jealous because after school when her sisters would get there they would all play with my hair. Combing it and braiding it. One day I had enough and I got up and hit her back. She never bothered me after that.
One last note. I work with a woman who is slightly autistic and has a speech problem, she stutters when she get excited or overwhelmed. I had a customer one day call her a F— moron. Well right in front of my boss. I looked at the customer and in my mom voice said “Shame on you” “That is not nice to say that about someone.” Of course my boss was like Blu you can’t do that. Well I said well he can’t talk that way about K either.
Sorry for the babble and Thank Tony!
Hooray for you Mom to step in! Yep, some people just don’t know how to act – its a crazy world!
Thanks a lot Tony. I was putting my makeup on when I clicked on the basketball story! Oh my goodness both are such touching stories. However, the story about Chi is disturbing. While the football team exemplified heroism, it’s too bad that the tormenters were not made responsible for their actions. I hope and pray that my 7 year old son is becoming the type of person who would intervene on behalf of someone who is being bullied. As a parent I will not tolerate anything that even remotely resembles bullying.
I was not bullied, but I was picked on from time to time for being overweight. It hurt my feelings but, I was not tormented like kids seem to be today. I live in a small town in New England that made national news a few years ago when a high school student committed suicide after enduring bullying by a group of classmates.
On a happier note I love the PicMonkey collage!
I hope Carlos doesn’t encounter bullies – but kids are ruthless sometimes.
I talk to Colin about bullying all the time. I tell him that it might be hard to do the right thing, but that 2 minutes of hard stuff is worth a million minutes of easy stuff. I just hope he actually is doing what we talk about when I’m not around! 🙂
I am sure he is Heather – he has a great Momma! 😀
Thanks to Tony.
I was mercilessly bullied in school. I hated school so much until I got to college. It’s funny that I am in my mid 40s and thinking about those bullying incidents still makes my face burn even today.
Seeing kids get bullied makes me cry because I know how they felt and I don’t let it go on if I can stop it.
Lori- just had to comment…still thinking about some things said to me in grade school makes me mad and sad. 40 years later! A psychotherapist’s dream I guess;)
So sorry you both had to go through with that. 🙁
I love those stories that Tony shared – nice to know that stuff like that happens!!
I was never bullied. My oldest son hasn’t been bullied but there is a group of boys that occasionally makes fun of him – thankfully he just ignores most of it.
That stinks – glad he has thick skin!
Great post, Tony! My kids were never bullies though my son had a hard time in elementary school making friends. You’d never know it now because he has so many, but at the time it was painful to watch. Kids can be so cruel and I believe that they will always stay that way. That is why bullying must be caught and stopped when kids are young! Cyber bullying is tough also as it can often go undetected.
I think cyber bullying is worse because you can do it anonymously. We actually had computer software put on Hannah’s computer when she was younger – just to make sure and keep her safe – she never knew it either!
This is not acceptable:) I expect that at some times you may post something that gets me all teary eyed but I was not expecting it from a Tony guest post. Great post Tony. Bullies are awful. I don’t see how parents don’t pick up on their behavior and do something about it. I could get on a soapbox with regards to the lack of parenting going on these days but I will spare you and your readers.
I like the Pic Monkey collage. I never noticed the dolphins in the pool before they are super cute:)
Gotcha! I love to make people cry – but in a good way! Yep, the dolphins help with the kids swim lessons somehow – not sure though!
I always have to watch & listen to those stories too and yes,they always make me cry. (perimenopause contributes to that as well;) I agree that those stories are extra touching because they give me hope in the younger generation. I don’t have kids and only a few distant nephews so I’m not exposed to youth too much and I think all the bad stories out there leave me jaded. It’s so good to hear about the good ones. I also reflect on the times of my youth that I could have helped someone that was being bullied or teased and it makes me sad – I know that I was reluctant to step in because I was always overweight and a target of teasing and didn’t want to call any attention to myself, but I still think I could have done better back then. Oh well, I can’t change what I did 35 years ago, I can only learn from it and move on. Thanks for bringing up this important topic and have a wonderful day! More snow here the last two mornings – YUCK!
Yep, it does make me feel better about this generation – that kids can be kind to each other! No snow today – and I think tomorrow the high is in the mid 40s! I might just wear shorts to work! 😀
Those stories are great. I was never bullied (thankfully) as a child, but unfortunately at my current job faced a situation like that with a co-worker. I just kept my head low, did my job and let HR and our mgr/supervisor sort it out. She still continues making shitty comments from time to time, but I find it not worth my time since the company doesn’t deem it necessary to do much about it except just call her into meetings about it. I try to just let it roll off my back. I applied for a different (better) position in the company so I’m hopeful I’ll get that and not have to worry about sitting on the other side of a cubicle wall from her.
That’s awful you have to deal with that at work – hope you get another position soon!
On that note, I saw this post of 30 Nice Things yesterday and I think it will touch your heart… http://www.viralnova.com/30-nice-things/
Those are priceless!! Thanks Carrie!
I saw that video on ESPN about the girl and the football team. I didn’t cry…but it did choke me up a bit. What an incredible group of young men!
thanks for the guest post, Tony!!