A Small Boy
Bullying is a huge problem that's widespread across the world and it's been around long before it was given a name. It's been around for a long time -- the urge to take out your frustrations in the form of bullying another person.
In recent years, bullying awareness has been raised and thus many more people have been fighting it rather than giving in. And victims of bullying are getting more support. One example is the terrible time this child was having at school.
School Bully
Joey Mason just wanted to have some fun at his local park. He decided to bring his ball and try to enjoy himself. At school, Joey would often get bullied so he felt the park was his safe haven. That is, until some teenagers appeared.
With so many kids getting bullied in their schools, they often don't know how to cope with this problem. There needs to be a change, and we're the ones who can do it.
He Was Not Ready
Joey is in the fourth grade and stays in Toronto, Canada. He was enjoying his ball in the park away from all the stress in school when he saw some teenagers coming toward him. Things didn't look good.
Thankfully, the whole incident was recorded as evidence -- so the teenagers could be shown as the troublemakers they were.
I'm Being Bullied
“My name is Joey and I’m 10 years old. I am a victim of bullying. It hurts me very much. Please, stop bullying.” This is the message that Joey posted on social media.
Even with all the people that ended up seeing poor Joey's message, there was nothing that any of the readers could have done to help Joey that day.
The Park
Most people know Canadians as very humble and well-mannered people. But, even in Canada, there are kids who are victims of bullying.
Joey was what you think of when you think of Canada -- he was just a nice boy. The problem is the group that was approaching him wasn't so nice. Joey knew these boys from school. He just wanted to enjoy his time at the park, but they had other plans.
Joey Didn't Noticed Them Approaching
The bullies noticed Joey playing in the park and wanted to tease him outside of school, too. They enjoyed making his day miserable. It gave them satisfaction.
When the bullies started picking on Joey, they called him names and laughed at him. Today though, they had new plans. Things were about to escalate.
Taking His Ball
If an onlooker were to review the scene that took place, it might just look like some friends walking up to Joey to say hello. Appearances can be deceiving.
The situation was about to escalate, and things weren't going to go in poor Joey's favor. But the ruckus the group of bullies made caught the attention of others in the park
What Will The Strangers Do?
It was difficult for Joey at school, he was too small to stand up to the bullies and other students were too scared to help him. Teachers were unaware since most of them thought it was horseplay.
The strangers that saw Joey being bullied in the park could see that he was in distress and needed a helping hand. Will they step in and do something?
It Wasn't Fun For Joey
Although the group of bullies was finding joy in taking Joey's ball and not giving him a chance to get it back from them, it was in the least bit of fun for Joey. If no one steps in and helps Joey, things can get out of hand quickly.
If watched from a distance, passersby would think there was nothing wrong with the scene. It was just some friends having harmless fun, right?
Things Were Going To Escalate
If you could get within earshot of the group and Joey, you'd hear that they definitely weren't friends and the situation was going to escalate.
The one boy in the group of bullies said: “Hey kid, nice ball you got there. Can I see it?” They proceeded to quickly snatch it from Joey. While they did so, another bully said: “Come on, just give it to me, man. It’s just a ball.”
There Was A Stranger Listening
The bullies were getting so caught up in picking on Joey they didn't realize there was someone eavesdropping on the situation. It was a man sitting on the park bench listening to it all.
The man was at the park to enjoy some reading material on his tablet. But when he heard the trouble Joey was in, he felt he had to do something about it.
He Approached the Boys
“Gentlemen, what are you doing?” said the man with a strong voice, similar to a dad’s scolding tone.
Joey was trying to get back his ball, and then the teenagers were left speechless for a few seconds, not knowing what to say.
“Just Playing Ball, Sir”
The teenagers said: “Just playing ball, sir,” hoping they would fool the man and be left alone. But this guy wasn’t buying it.
The man’s next words are more than we would ever want to hear in this situation if we were Joey…
Making Things Clear For Them
“Why are you picking on a little kid?” asked the man. The boys didn’t answer. “Don’t you think your parents would love this? You guys getting arrested for picking on a little kid?” he added.
One of the teens said “No,” and then the man turned to the other teenagers, asking some more questions.
Joey Was Finally Safe
“Why didn’t you guys stop him? You guys wanna be part of this?” asked the man, angry that he was a witness to this, but glad to be there and help out Joey. He turned to the little boy and asked him if he was ok, giving back his ball.
Then, he turned to the teenagers and told them to find another place and leave the kid alone. But this story is far from being over, and you’ll see why…
This Was An Experiment
What this man didn’t know was that the entire moment was filmed.
It actually was a social experiment to see if people would react to such a situation and how they would fix this problem.
How Would You React?
The Popular Youtuber Matthew Bandeira published this video on his channel MattTV where he has more social experiments worth seeing.
Here’s how two other women react to Joey being bullied!
“This Boy Was Getting Bullied. How These Strangers Reacted Will Shock You”
This video is called “This Boy Was Getting Bullied. How These Strangers Reacted Will Shock You.”
And when this woman saw the older boys picking on Joey, she jumped in and. Upon finding out it was an experiment, she added a few more words about her opinion on bullying…
A Mother’s Reaction
This mother was watching her kids play when Joey is approached by three teenagers. They get too close and pick up his backpack, throwing it away.
Then, one of them takes his soccer ball and the mom walks towards them, confronting the teenagers.
Others Must Jump In and Help
She asks them what’s wrong with them and why are they acting like that. Disappointed in what she saw, she tells the teenagers to leave Joey alone and go away.
After finding out about the setup, she said: “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.”
Checking Her Phone, But Saving the Day
This woman was also busy on her phone, like the man from the first experiment. And just like him, she heard the commotion and quickly acted, going over to Joey and asking him if he knew those boys or if he was related to them.
She was also told after her reaction that it was an experiment and her words just made our day!
She Had to Do Something!
“He was just messing with this poor kid and there was nobody else taking care of him,” explained the woman.
She was appalled by what the teenagers did, and you can see it from these photos.
Stop Bullies
Many celebrities have spoken up and supported people like Joey. Bullying is not something we want to see, no matter what! So that’s why many people have started to speak up about this issue.
Here’s what our story has in common with Anti Bullying movements…
A Heartbreaking Message from Keaton
This little boy pleaded in front of the world, sobbing at the camera, to stop the bullying for everyone that suffers like him.
Meanwhile, Joey was rescued by these heroes that didn’t waste a second to stand up against bullying.
I Promise It Gets Better
It was Jones’ video that drew Chris Evans’ attention – yes, Captain America himself!
His video sparked a national debate on the problems of bullying and many celebrities came to encourage and give Keaton advice. The same support for the ones getting bullied was seen in this video…
What Would you Do?
Would you stand up for someone that was being bullied?
Would you have done the same or let the kid handle the situation by himself?
Bullying Is Wrong
We think bullying is wrong and shouldn’t ever happen, no matter the age, the reason or the medium.
It makes others feel bad about themselves and it also negatively influences people’s lives!
Raising Awareness And Reacting to Bullying
What this video has thought us all is that bullying is wrong, and the right reaction is to use logic and make the bullies ask themselves what would they do if they were the ones bullied.
Acknowledging this is one step closer to making bullying part of sad history in our society.
Online Bullying Increased
With the emergence of social media, the online bullying has tremendously increased.
And it made many students that were bullied not just in real life but also online, to even consider suicide!
Save a Life, Be Kind to Others
We can all save a life by being kind to people and step up when we see them being harassed.
And always remember, don’t you ever do others what you wouldn’t want done to yourself applies to bullying as well!