Bullying is really bad. According to DoSomething.org, 1 in 5 kids in the US between the ages of 12 and 18 are bullied during the school year, and about 160,000 teens have skipped school because of it.
South Carolina dad Randy Smalls acted quickly when he found out that his teenage daughter was making fun of a friend for her clothes and makeup.
Ryan Reese, a seventh-grader at Berkeley Middle School, was bullied as a child, and Smalls felt sorry for him right away. He stole money that was meant for his daughter and went shopping with Ryan to get new clothes and a new look.
The mother of Ryan and Smalls’ wife, Richauna Reese, are friends, but they didn’t know about the bullying until recently. Ryan’s family called him on the phone, and Smalls asked if he could take Ryan to a beauty shop to get new clothes and a makeover.
Smalls had planned to use the money to buy his 13-year-old daughter new clothes, but when he found out that she was being bullied, he changed his mind and gave it to Ryan instead.
Smalls told Yahoo News, “When you laugh along, you’re on board with the bullying.”
“My daughter was upset, especially because she is into fashion,” he told me. “So she came with us and helped pick out Ryan’s new clothes.”
Smalls took Ryan to the beauty salon while his daughter was at church. He paid for visits every two months until the end of the year.
When hairdressers in the area heard about the nice thing that was done, they also offered to keep Ryan looking good for the next few months.
Ryan’s mother, Richauna, told Yahoo News that her daughter was having a hard time because of the stress and the deaths of her father, grandfather, and aunt just recently.
Ryan has learned a lot from his shopping trip. “I didn’t expect it.” Just now I began to cry. “Being picked on was really sad for me because I had just lost my grandfather, father, and aunt, and it really made me depressed,” Ryan said.
“This is the first time I have seen a parent take such a stance on bullying,” said Richauna.
Smalls was shocked by the reaction, which he says helped his daughter understand what she did wrong.
“I didn’t expect for this to get big but I’m glad if other parents [can learn from it],” said Smalls. “My daughter learned her lesson.”
Smalls told Strahan, Sara, and Keke on ABC, “As parents, we have to be responsible for what our kids do.” “We can teach our kids, but when they’re with other kids, they might not pay attention as much.” When things like this happen, we need to be the parent and not the friend (parent).
They seem to be getting along better now that they’ve been through it. “They’re cool now,” said Richauna.
Father Takes Girl Who Was Picked On By His Daughter Shopping
