Even though today, you have countless organizations and individuals who are always speaking up and trying to get rid of bullying, it continues to happen all around the world. There has always been bullying, even back in the day, when people even didn’t know what to call it. We also have to mention that bullying can happen to adults as well, not just children. We don’t tend to acknowledge that bullying can also happen to adults.
Some older people can also decide that they are going to take their frustration out on someone else. The majority of the time is when the adult was a bully when he/she was a child, and they can’t change either when they grow up. They keep on tormenting people, maybe not in the way they did as a child, but all in all, it is still considered bullying. But one father decided that he couldn’t take it anymore.
This story is about Joey Mason, who was a target for bullies in his area. He was considered a pretty happy kid, even though he went through a lot. He was in the park with his ball, running and playing around, when a couple of older kids came up to him.
The saddest thing when a kid is bullied is that he or she doesn’t know how to deal or defend themselves. When you are dealing with bullies at school you can somewhat deal with it and stop it from happening, but Joey wasn’t at school, he was at the park.
Joey didn’t have a lot of friends, and he had always enjoyed playing with his pets at home and in the nearby park. Joey lived next to a big park in Toronto, Canada, and after he came back from school, he would go and play at the park. It was just a typical day until a couple of teenagers came to the park.
The normal after school fun in the park would change to be one of the worst days for Joey. Everyone who was in the park that day could see the teenagers approaching Joey, and they knew that things would get worse.
Joey was on social media, and one day he posted that he is a victim of bullying and urged people to stop. He got hundreds of responses and comments on his post. Unfortunately, one of the biggest things with a kid being bullied is that those people who are closest to them, have no clue of what is going on.
It was the same for Joey’s father, who didn’t even see the post that Joey had put on his social media. He was another parent that didn’t realize that his child was getting bullied. But things were about to change.
Every parent wants their child to be happy. Parents would do anything to see their kids grow up peacefully and become happy adults. When a parent notices that his child is unhappy or is in some kind of pain, it is pretty evident that they will get worried. Joey’s father didn’t see what Joey posted on social media, but he could feel and sometimes see that Joey wasn’t happy and that something was going on.
The signs were there to be seen, and Joey’s father could see that his son was hiding something that clearly made him unhappy. Another thing that could be worrying is that many kids don’t speak up. It was the same with Joey. When his dad started talking to him and asked if something was wrong, Joey said that everything was fine.
Not a lot of times passed, and Joey started going to a new school. That was the period where his father began to get really worried about him. Here was a happy kid that smiled all the time and loved life. Next thing you know, Joey became a mess and seemed to have changed a lot.
His father didn’t know what had caused this sudden change. He was questioning himself, what could have made his son act and feel this way. Was it the new school, the other students and teachers there or it was something that he had done. He wanted to know, and he was determined to find out.
Joey’s father would notice that he would come home from school with tears in his eyes, but he couldn’t talk to him. Joey would simply choose to stay quiet and wouldn’t talk about what was going on. His father started to suspect that he was getting bullied at school.
The day came when he found out what was happening to Joey. He knew that he had to do everything he can to stop what was happening.
Joey’s father didn’t want what was happening to continue, and he couldn’t see his son change for the worst. Joey didn’t deserve what was happening to him, and his dad would try to make sure that it would stop. The only thing left to do was come up with a smart plan.
Time was slowly passing, and Joey’s father was forming out his plan. He kept on thinking that his son needed his help and at one point he had the perfect plan in place. After the plan was made he only had to wait for the perfect opportunity.
He figured out that nothing could have changed his son while he was at home, because they were a happy family. He speculated that either one of his schoolmates or it could have been a teacher that had bullied Joey at school.
But that was only speculation, and he didn't know that whole truth. One day he decided that he would follow Joey everywhere he went, and when he was following him to the park one day, he saw what was happening that made his son change.
Joey's father was standing at a distance and was watching his son play with his ball in the park. He seemed quite happy and without a care in the world. At one point, a couple of teenagers started to walk towards Joey.
His father thought that they are maybe some of his friends. He quickly realized that they weren't his friends, and the only thing that confirmed that was the look on Joey's face when he saw them walking towards him. The teenagers started tormenting Joey, and his father finally understood what the root of the problem was.
A couple of teenagers for no actual reason started to follow and would turn up everywhere Joey went, before and after school. He couldn't seem to take a break, and they would bully any time they saw him.
They would always call him names, but Joey didn't let that get to him. But one day the teenagers saw that the name-calling wasn't getting to him, so they decided to do something more to Joey.
Joey wasn't bothering anyone at the park, and he was just playing by himself with his ball. Other people that were at the park didn't get involved because they thought that because the teenagers would approach Joey so directly, they surely knew him.
Joey was about to get in trouble. The teenager started to make a lot of noise, and they got the attention of one person, a person who would turn out to be the savior of Joey.
When it all happened at school, Joey couldn't run away or defend himself. Most of the other students who witnessed him getting bullied were afraid to step in because they thought it will start happening to them if they say or do something. The teachers weren't much help because they believed that the kids were just playing, and it was something that kids did.
But in this situation, Joey was in the park, and the teenagers got him cornered. Joey was afraid, knowing that they could do anything to him, just as they tormented and made fun of him in the past. But there was a person present in the park that would step in for Joey.
The teenagers were having fun with Joey. They would take his ball away from him, and they would throw it to themselves, not giving it back.
People that were in the park thought that the teenagers knew Joey and that they would just have some fun together.
The thing that was standing out was their demeanor. They seemed friendly from the outside, but they were hiding their true nature and the nasty intent they had.
One of the teenagers came close to Joey and asked if he could see his ball. Before Joey answered, that teen kicked the ball away from Joey. Joey started to scream to him that it was his ball, and they should give it back.
The teenagers wouldn't give the ball back and were laughing as they passed it to each other, not giving it back to Joey. The teens didn't have an idea that someone was closely watching what they were doing to Joey.
While the teens were making fun of Joey and wouldn't give back the ball to him, one man in the background started to notice the whole thing. As things began to get more serious, his full attention was turned to the teenagers.
One of the teens kicked the ball far away, and that is when the man was going to step in. None of the teenagers knew that the man was actually Joey's father.
He asked the teenagers what they were doing. His tone gave out that he was not particularly amused and convinced that they were his friends.
For a few seconds, the teenagers didn't know what to say. Joey went to get his ball as his father confronted the teenagers.
One of the teenagers said that they were only playing ball with Joey. They could see that he wasn't fooled by what they said.
The next thing that the man said were some words that if we were Joey, we would have never expected them.
Joey's father asked the teenager why they were picking on someone younger than them. He followed up with the question, would their parents be proud of what you are doing to this younger kid.
One of the teenagers stepped up and said that they weren't picking on him, so Joey's father turned around and started to ask the other teenagers some more questions.
The man continued to talk to some of the other people in the park and some other teenagers that were close by. He asked them, why wouldn't someone step up and stop the teenagers from picking on this little kid. He got the ball and gave it back to Joey, simultaneously asking him if he was alright.
He told the teenagers to leave and find another place to hang out and leave Joey alone. But, the whole story doesn't end there.
A few days had passed, and Joey's father decided that he wanted to walk his son to school. He told Joey that they were going to go through the spot where the teenagers would wait for Joey in the morning as he was walking to school.
He once again wanted to confront the teenagers and to make sure that they would never again pick on Joey.
Joey's father was behind him just to make sure that at first, the teenager wouldn't spot him. And like clockwork, the teenagers appeared at the spot that Joey told his father they would be. Just as they saw him, instantly, they started to call him names.
But this time, this father was close by and confronted the teenagers. With a big smile on his face, he started unzipping his coat.
When they saw the uniform that Joey's father was wearing under his coat, the teenagers immediately started to run away. Joey's father was laughing as he was tightening his black belt.
Joey's father found his old Judo uniform and wanted the teenagers to see it.
Thousands of people went to social media and gave support to Keaton. Some celebrities started to talk to Keaton and made him feel better. One of the celebrities was Chris Evans.
He made sure that Keaton got his message and told him to stay strong because so many people have got his back. He even invited Keaton to the Avengers movie premiere.
For years now, many organizations, individuals, and celebrities have spoken up and voiced their hate towards bullying. Seeing so many people stand up and talk has given more and more people the courage to face their bullies.
Back in 2017, a video went viral, in which a boy named Keaton Jones talked about him getting bullied.
With tears in his eyes, he wanted people to know that bullying is harsh and makes people hate life. Because of this video, the whole county stood up and started talking about it.
In a situation like the one that Joey was in, would you step in, or would you just watch from afar?
It is one of the worst things that can happen to children, and people that are nearby or know someone that is getting bullied should step in. Bullying makes little kids feel bad and think that things are always going to be like that.
No one wants that negativity in their life, so we all must come together to stop bullying.
The story of Joey and Keaton teaches us that bullying is wrong, and no one should go through it. When you see someone being bullied, confront the bully and tell him would he or she like it if the same is done to them.
Making the bully realize that they wouldn't like to be in that situation is one step closer to making bullying history.
As much as social media has been of help in raising awareness, online bullying has become a thing. Children that have to go through real-life harassment now can't even feel better when they are on their phones of computers.
Through the years, some children have even considered self-harm because they can't get away from their bullies.
Making fun of someone or picking on them doesn't make you cooler or a stronger person.
Any time you are close to someone or see someone getting bullied, step in because every one of us needs to be kind and help each other out.