BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – It’s a disturbing trend. Between 1 in 4 and 1 in 3 U.S. students say they have been bullied at school, according to StopBullying.Gov. For one Berkeley County father, those numbers hit too close to home, and he’s recently gone viral because of it.
On Tuesday, Randy Smalls and his 13-year-old daughter appeared on ABC’s
Strahan, Sara and Keke after going viral for taking an unusual approach to teaching his daughter about bullying after learning that she and a group of girls were picking on a classmate at school.
“As parents we have to take responsibility for what our children do,” he told show hosts while in New York City. “We can teach our children, but when they go and are around other children they can veer off a little bit. When situations like this happen, we have to take action and be the parent and not the friend.”
And that’s exactly what he did. He had planned to take his daughter, Re’Onna Smalls, shopping since she loves spending time at the store. However, to teach her a lesson, he decided to take the girl his daughter bullied to the store instead.
“I wasn’t expecting it. I just started to cry,” said Ryan Reese, who was bullied by Smalls’ daughter. “It (the bullying) was really sad for me because I had lost my grandpa, father and aunt, and it really took me deep down in my depression.”
[SEE ALSO: Randy Smalls: After Dallas Police Shooting, Community Prays For Peace]
According to Smalls, he understood Ryan’s pain because he, too, was bullied in school. As a result, he said he had to make things right while teaching his daughter that bullying is never okay.
“I wasn’t expecting this. I’m so used to parents being passive aggressive with their kids saying, ‘oh, my kids aren’t like this.’ I never thought in a million years that he would take the approach that he did with my daughter,” said Richauna Reese, Ryan’s mother. “I’m sorry that Re’Onna is going through it but he’s teaching her a lesson.”
As for Re’Onna, she said she’s learned her lesson.
“I learned not to bully people and to be nice to people,” she said while appearing on Strahan, Sara and Keke Tuesday.
- Nearly Century-Old St. Stephen School To Be Torn Down - March 20, 2024
- BCSD Approves $10K Bonus For Special Education Teachers - March 19, 2024
- WakeUp Carolina Celebrates Moncks Corner Grand Opening With Ribbon Cutting - March 12, 2024
Recent Comments