Too often, we are used to seeing good people stand by while bullies terrorize children. Many people learn to develop an “It’s not my problem” mentality very early in life, and it sticks with them. For a lot of kids, they may be afraid of becoming targets themselves, and for others, they may just be afraid to stick their necks out. And there are still those who think that bullying is perfectly natural and that children should “tough it out” or even resort to violence to resolve bullying issues. However, we’ve come to know better as a society, and thankfully times are changing for the better.
One example is this story from 2015 in which Desiree Andrews, a then-14-year-old Lincoln Middle School student, and cheerleader, experiences something she never expected one night during a school basketball game. You see, Desiree has Down syndrome but hasn’t let her condition stop her from pursuing her dreams. Ever since she saw an episode of the Fox TV series “Glee” that featured a cheerleader with Down syndrome, she knew that she wanted to give it a go herself. However, her night was almost ruined when several kids from the audience began mocking and heckling her. Sadly, for Desiree, their cruel treatment wasn’t anything she hadn’t experienced before. She decided to continue smiling and not let them get to her. Nonetheless, their cruel remarks still deeply hurt the teen’s feelings. Perhaps even more so for her dad, who happened to be at the game to support his daughter.
“She saw that I was upset,” Andrews explained in an interview. “She threw her hands around me and made me look at her face and said, ”Papa, it’s’s OK. I still love them even if they don’t like me.'” But, there were others at the game who overheard the disgusting comments and were not about to let these rude kids go unchecked.
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Three basketball players from her school’s team saw what was going on and decided to take action. The immediately called a time out to stop the game and walked off the court. “We were mad. We didn’t like that. We asked our sports director to talk to the people and tell them not to make fun of her,” said Rodriguez. In minutes the member of the team confronted the bullies face to face and shamed them for their disrespectful and despicable behavior. And after that, Desiree didn’t hear another peep from that bunch.
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Ever since then, other students at Desiree’s school started becoming more aware of bullying and rallied behind their fellow classmates. You can watch a special news report on these kids’ remarkable story in the video below.
