Moms Talk: The Impact of Bullying

It was a beautiful summer day and my son wanted to ride his bike.

He loved that bike more than anything. So, he took to the streets of his neighborhood, cell phone in pocket.

We got the phone all about 20 minutes after he left. He was hysterical. He told us he'd been hurt and some teenagers hurt him. He was at the corner of Cirque and Bridgeport not far from our home.

We raced up there in the car and found our son's shirt, face, helmet and bike covered in rotten food. He looked bruised on his arm. A car of teenagers had pulled up along side him and taunted him with dirty words and telling him he was fat. They began to pelt things out of the car at home (mostly food). And they drove off laughing. My son was devastated. No one stopped to help. We got him home. He told us he was too scared to ride his bike anymore. He took to his room the rest of the day. We felt helpless, angry, sickened, and weak.

 Now that's the bad news.

 The good news? He got back on that bike, on his own, the very next day and he took back his neighborhood. The better news? He survived. We survived. This was not the first time he was bullied. He has been bullied at school and bullied in the neighborhood (told that he was fat, dumb, weird) . Why does this happen to him? I could tell you about all of his developmental disabilities.

But I am not going to.

It doesn't matter.

I tell people his story, our story, and no matter how many times I share it, the result is the same. Adults are called to action and they answer. People in this community, my neighbors, reach out to us as fellow warriors, ready to jump right into the foxhole. There is a fierce army of folks that care. They want to make things right. We talk. Debate. Brainstorm. We want to fight. We want to provide a salve. And you know what? We do.

So here's the question: How do we, as parents and community members answer the call to action when it comes to bullying and harassment of our children?