Stand Up

I don't know if you have caught the story on the internet a week or two ago, but a young girl named Desiree Andrews has gone viral on the web. Desiree Andrews is a cheerleader for the Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She's a sweet, happy, friendly eighth-grader, who also happens to have Down Syndrome. During one of the basketball games, some of the players could hear her being harassed from the stands. It was then during a time out in the game that three players walked off the court and walked over to the students who were bullying her and asked them to stop. Scooter Terrien was one of the boys who went over there and he said the reason he did it was "It's not fair when other people get treated wrong because we are all the same."

I don't know about you but I get really angry when I see any student getting picked on, let alone a student who is living so courageously with a disability. Some times I just want to scream and do whatever I can to bring the bully to justice, but then I realize there is a process to follow. However I don't think I have ever responded like Desiree did. When she saw how upset her father was about the incident, she threw her arms around him and said, "Papa, it's OK. I still love them even if they don't love me." WOW! If that doesn't make you choke up.

The boys that defended Desiree and the story, didn't end there. The article went on to say that Desiree never has to walk alone to class again. Every day the boys or other classmates hold her hand and walk her to her next class. According to the Kenosha News, they have also re-named the gymnasium, "D's House" in her honor.

There are two reasons why I wrote this blog. One, I want all of you to see how easy it is to stand up for someone when they are being bullied and how admired you are by so many when you do stand up to a bully. Remember, this story went viral on the internet, showing how affected people were by the action of these three boys. Two, I am now hearing stories of a terrible, disgusting social media site called "Burn book" or something like that. I believe it all started with the "Mean Girls" show, I could be wrong. This site has hit our area and as I mentioned, it is cruel and hurtful. I understand the police are working on getting this shut down. Hopefully they can figure out whoever adds a post to this site and track them down. I beg of you to please not lower yourself to this type of activity. Think of the hurt that it causes. I also ask if you know someone who is on there, please tell them to stop. Stand up for others. Be that one person who says "I am sick and tired of it".  I often hear people say that bullying is to hard to stop, especially with the social media sites. Well, I am telling you that if we all do our part and not allow it in our school, we will make a big dent in it. Take care and have a great week.

Note: Information for this story came from two separate articles by Andrea Romano and Jim Daly.