"My name is Joey, and I'm ten years old. I am a victim of bullying. It hurts me very much. Please, stop bullying." This is the message Joey's mother posted to Facebook in an attempt to put an end to bullying.
She had no idea that her plea was about to be answered in the most unexpected way possible. A stranger who had come across her post knew exactly what to do.
Joey Mason
Joey Mason was a shy nine-year-old boy from Toronto, Canada. In his free time, he loved to play with his dog and cat at a park near his house.
Sadly, one day, his playtime turned into a nightmare when three teenagers began to bully him.
Three Bullies
The three bullies have had their eyes on Joey for a long time now. They would follow him everywhere he went and bully him.
But Joey didn't let their mean words get to him. Then, one day, the bullying got out of control.
The Beginning
Joey was kicking a soccer ball in the park when suddenly the three teenagers approached him. “Hey, kid,” one of the teens said. “Nice ball you got there. Can I see it?”
Before Joey could reply, the teen kicked it away from him. “It’s mine!” Joey shouted.
Someone Was Watching
“Come on, just give it to me, man. It’s just a ball,” the teen said. But unbeknownst to the bullies, they were being watched.
A man who was sitting on a bench near where Joey had been playing was taking notice of their interaction.
"What are you doing?"
Suddenly, he stood up and said: "Gentlemen, what are you doing?" The teens got nervous.
"Just playing ball, sir," one of the teens responded. But the man didn't believe him. "You got a problem?" he asked the three bullies.
Defending The Boy
"Why are you picking on a little kid?" The three teens didn't know how to answer his question.
“Playing ball,” the teen repeated in a quiet voice. “Don’t you think your parents would love this? You guys getting arrested for picking on a little kid?” the man asked him.
Keeping Joey Safe
"You think they'd be proud of you?" The three friends had no answer to offer but a quiet "no sir." Then, the men turned to the other two teens.
“Why didn’t you guys stop him?” the man asked them. “You guys wanna be part of this?”
"Are you ok?"
Then, he looked at Joey. "Are you ok?" he asked him. "Why don't you take your ball, and we'll go over there," he continued, offering to keep him company. He then asked the bullies to leave.
As it turned out, the entire incident was just a social experiment directed by mastermind Matthew Bandeira.
Social Experiment
His Youtube channel MattTV focuses on creative provoking social experiments to demonstrate the behavior of people when confronted with dangerous or difficult situations.
His first video, “Would You Help An Abandoned Child?” received over 300,00 views! Then, last year, another video of his went viral.
Keaton Jones
In 2017, a video went viral in which a boy named Keaton Jones talked about getting bullied at school.
The video sparked a national conversation about bullying, and Keaton received lots of support from people all over the country. After watching this video, Bandeira decided to conduct his own social experiment to see how people would react to teens picking on a young boy.
Lots Of Support
Chris Evans and a few other celebrities showed their support to Keaton.
"Stay strong, Keaton. Don't let them make you turn cold. I promise it gets better. While those punks at your school are deciding what kind of people they want to be in this world, how would you and your mom like to come to the Avengers premiere in LA next year?" Evans commented.
Another Hit
Bandeira's video titled "This Boy Was Getting Bullied. How These Strangers Reacted Will Shock You" has reached over 302,000 views on YouTube.
And that man wasn't the only one who stood up to the bullies.
Other Defenders
Bandeira had conducted the experiment three times in total. A young mother and a middle-aged woman also stood up to the three teens, telling them to leave the boy alone.
“Well, I wouldn’t want my son to be getting bullied, so if I knew somebody would be around my son, I would want them to do something as well,” the young mother said.
"Because Someone Had To..."
The middle-aged woman said she stepped in because someone had to. “He was just messing with this poor kid, and there was nobody else taking care of him,” she explained.
These women were quick-thinking, but sadly not all people react the same way. Many people walked by without saying anything.