Bullying is a real problem, and children seem to be getting involved in it at younger ages.
Schools are cracking down on the problem, but bullying isn’t only happening in schools. It’s happening online, in sports, and even in stores. Bullying also doesn’t only happen between children and teens.
Kids are so used to bullying people and having no consequences that they aren’t even a bit ashamed of their actions.
One woman caught some bullies doing what they do best, but she put a stop to it right then and there.
Mary Katherine Backstrom was in line at the checkout when she noticed the kids in front of her snickering and snapping photos of the cashier, who had a deformity. She watched it happen until the kids left and decided that she was going to let them get away with it. She said:
“The man who was working checkout had had some kind of severe cranial reconstructive surgery. He had staples in his head. His head was just deformed, and his eye was drooping, and he looked like he had a very devastating accident and surgery.”
Facebook/Mom Babble by Mary Katherine Backstrom
Facebook/Mom Babble by Mary Katherine Backstrom
Backstrom put her basket up and followed the kids outside to confront them.
She wanted them to know that she and other people had seen them being so mean to the man and was hoping to find their parents waiting for them, so she could tell them, too.
She told them:
“You were being very cruel to that man.”
She said the kids did apologize, but that wasn’t enough for her.
She felt like they were just saying it because they were caught. She knew they were still going to share those photos and probably return to make fun of the man again. She wanted to make sure they really were sorry for their actions.
She added:
“Then my heart starts racing because I realize I don’t know how this mom’s going to react to me saying something to her.”
She admits that she was a little nervous to tell the kids’ parents but knew it had to be done.
Sure enough, the boys’ mom rolled up in a minivan a few minutes later. Backstrom walked up to her and explained what had happened inside.
To her surprise, their mother wasn’t upset with her and thanked her for letting her know about it. She was very upset with her kids, and Backstrom felt that they would have some consequences for their actions when they got home. She was glad she had done it and glad that the mom reacted the way she did.
“I just wanted to say to the lady whose kid just acted like a complete butthole in Target that you’re a really good mom.”
Backstrom says that although those weren’t her kids, she still felt that something needed to be done.
Even good parents aren’t always around to correct their kids when they need it, so if they aren’t aware of a problem, they can’t fix it. She said that she would want someone to do the same if her kids were ever doing something they shouldn’t. She said:
“If my kids are ever in Target being buttholes or bullies or making fun of people, I hope you do the same thing. It’s hard to hear criticisms from other parents or hear your kids are acting contrary to how you know you’ve raised them, but that’s part of them growing up.”
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She added that others should also step up and help out when they can.
Not all parents will respond positively, but most will be understanding and appreciative that another adult stepped in when they couldn’t be there to do it themselves. In the end, nobody wants to raise jerks.
“We all need to be keeping an eye on each other and each other’s kids.”
Source: Western Journal, Mom Babble by Mary Katherine Backstrom
