1. The basketball players who halted a game to confront a bully who was mocking a cheerleader from the stands
Basketball players at Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha, Wisconsin stood as one against bullies mocking their chum and basketball cheerleader Desiree Andrews, who has Down’s Syndrome.
In the course of a game in March 2015, Andrews was being audibly bullied from the stands. Some boys on the team cut short the game and faced up to her tormentor, telling him to stop picking on her.
“It’s not fair when other people get treated wrong because we’re all the same. We’re all created the same. God made us the same way,” said Scooter Terrien, a Lincoln Middle School basketball player.
The gym where the game happened has been lovingly nicknamed “D’s House.” Lincoln High School authorities are now trying to change the name permanently in honor of the little girl.
2. The pop singer who fell prey to an online bully after the birth of her child
In February 2015, Katie Hopkins – called the “most hated woman in Britain” – started fat-shaming Kelly Clarkson after seeing her on The Graham Norton Show.
Hopkins strangely took to her Twitter account and went for the jugular. She said of Clarkson’s post baby weight gain: “Jesus, what happened to Kelly Clarkson? Did she eat all of her backing singers? Happily I have wide-screen. #grahamnorton.” Ouch.
Just as Clarkson was defended by fans, Hopkins struck once more, saying: “Look chubsters, Kelly Clarkson had a baby a year ago. That is no longer baby weight. That is carrot cake weight. Get over yourselves.”
Clarkson, who’s not on Twitter, was shocked to hear the vitriol against her from Hopkins and said she wasn’t bothered by the woman’s words and said, “since having a family – I don’t seek out any other acceptance.”
Hopkins contended that she has the best of intentions in lambasting the three time Grammy-Award winner, and is worried about Clarkson’s health and influence as a role model. Sure you are, Ms. Hopkins, sure you are.
3. The teacher who bullied a student with an Instagram post
Traci Gauthier, a visual arts teacher at Skyline High School in Longmont, Colorado, has been fired by the St. Vrain School District after being accused of bullying a student via a photo she posted on Instagram.
The photo shows Skyline freshman Phoenix Bowen walking out of a classroom, where Gauthier was substituting for a day, with the caption, “STEM kids are trying too hard. I don’t know him, but I hate him,” and added the hashtags, “#pothead, #STEM, #wannabecool, #dorkywhiteboy.”
Bowen ran into the post, and retaliated with the comment, “You can’t hate me, you don’t know me.” Gauthier reportedly wrote back, “I know I don’t know you, but I can hate anyone I like #nobig #dontbesad #meanartteacher.”
Bowen said that the pot-related hashtag was probably in reference to his backpack, which was sporting a logo for CannaEnergy, which the company described as an energy supplement free of THC (the active ingredient which gets marijuana smokers high).
Notwithstanding how she based her opinions on the student, she was, as a person of authority, out of line. The school hasn’t disclosed the particulars of her dismissal, and Gauthier has given no further explanation for her behavior.
4. Students involved in stories of bullying viral video of school bus monitor torment special needs student
In an earlier article, 8 Most Shocking Stories of Bullying, we brought you the story of Rochester, New York school bus monitor Karen Klein, the 68-year-old woman whose stories of bullying precipitated worldwide outrage when the “Make the Bus Monitor Cry” video went viral.
Some years after the incident, two teenagers connected to that video were recently involved in the torment of a special needs student.
According to sources several students are part of an investigation of a special needs student who was forced to drink their urine while holding their genitals. Looks like, the kids forcibly took the student into a bathroom at Greece Athena high school, filmed the incident, and shared it with friends via Snapchat.
The investigation is still going on of this writing. It’s not known what form of discipline – if any – will take place this time.
5. The mother and daughter who wrote open letters to the media about their torment from schoolyard bullies
11-year-old Abby Kirk underwent severe bullying and thought of commiting suicide. Now, she speaks frankly regarding her painful experience, after her bullies apologized and vowed not to abuse her anymore.
Baffled with no idea of what to do about the continued and particularly vicious bullying, Abby and her mom, Rachel Kirk, wrote open letters to the media in March 2015 begging for the abuse to stop.
Abby was verbally insulted, food was thrown at her, and she was even pushed down stairs on a daily basis. Things reportedly turned worse when she was threatened with rape and even placed on suicide watch due to the levels of sustained abuse she received.
After the bullies were told what their behavior was doing to poor Abby, they had a moment of clarity and vowed not to torment her anymore.
She is now much relieved and feeling positive about the new regime. She says she’s made some new friends and is happier than she’s been in a long time.
6. The dancing man who was shamed by an online bully
A victim of cyber-bullying has fast turned into a hero to thousands of Internet users.
Photos making fun of a “dancing man” for being overweight posted by an unknown user on online message board 4chan stirred up Internet outrage in March 2015. “Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week,” the user posted, along with a photo of a man happily dancing. “He stopped when he saw us laughing.” Another photo, posted alongside the first, showed the man with his head down, looking humiliated.
Just as the post went viral, people began calling out the bully and one woman, Free Thought Project writer Cassandra Fairbanks, decided to take a stand.
Fairbanks re-posted the picture on Twitter, begging her more than 30,000 followers to help her locate the man because 2,000 women in LA wanted to do “something special” for him. Her tweet was shared almost 3,000 times. The group of women then created a GoFundMe page, which has till now raised around $13,000, to fly the man to LA and throw a dance party for him.
Within merely 13 hours, the man was found and graciously accepted Fairbanks’ invitation. Although the party is still in the planning stages, Pharrell Williams and Moby are among the celebrities lining up to attend.
7. The woman who called out her former bully in a letter
Just after a former grade school bully reached out to 22-year-old Louise Manning to ask her out on a date, she agreed, but didn’t turn up. Her suitor, now a young man, was instead left a note that was passed to him by waiter. It said, “Hey, so sorry I can’t join you tonight. Remember year 8, when I was fat and you made fun of my weight? No? I do – I spent the following three years eating less than an apple a day. So I’ve decided to skip dinner. Remember the monobrow you mocked? The hairy legs you were disgusted by? Remember how every day for three years, you and your friends called me Manbeast? No perhaps you don’t – or you wouldn’t have seen how I look eight years later and deemed me f***able enough to treat me like a human being. I thought I’d send you this as a reminder. Next time you think of me, picture that girl in this photo, because she’s the one who just stood you up.”
She posted the letter to Facebook and it went viral. Manning received a little criticism from some (for being self serving and vengeful) and a whole lot of praise (for standing up to her aggressor) from others.
The bully then responded via Facebook saying, “‘Hey… For what it’s worth, I was actually here to meet up looking for a chance to make friends, not because you are very good looking. I guess I had it coming though, and certainly don’t blame you for standing me up. I can’t change who I was 8 years ago, and I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending that it didn’t happen, but I hope you believe me when I say I’m a completely different person now. I can only apologize and wish you the very best. I guess I won’t hear from you again but I mean it when I say that I hope you have every success you deserve.”
Manning afterwards said that writing the letter was cathartic for her and she was happy to receive the apology she never thought she’d get.
8. The MMA fighter who challenged an online bully to a fight
It was perhaps not the best idea to initiate an online fight with an MMA fighter, but that’s exactly what Patrick Martin, a stranger who had been talking a lot of gibberish to Josh Neer and others on Facebook, did.
Finally, Neer became tired of the insults and threats, and regardless of being mere 5’11” and 170-pounds, he invited this reportedly 6’6″, 270-pound stranger to his gym to settle things once and for all. The guy accepted and, as you’ll see in the video below, takes quite a beating.
Martin has since asserted that although this video certainly shows him taking an onslaught of elbows and a cheap kick after the separation, he in fact won this impromptu fight. He’s also offering Neer a rematch for another shot at a fair fight.
It doesn’t seem like he won to us, nonetheless you be the judge:
9. The Grammy Award-winning singer who was bullied for being gay by other members of the gay community
Sadly, gay bullying is all too commonplace, but what does it mean when it’s coming from members of the LGBT community?
Sam Smith became a victim of taunts after coming out to at age 11 which he encountered all through his teen years, but Sam’s “whole world just crashed” when he felt the bullying coming from other gay men.
Just after moving to London Sam who was in his late teens at that time, decided to go clubbing in Soho. After entering a gay establishment, he heard a guy turn to his friend and say something “really nasty.” Smith recollects, there is not only a lot of homophobia in the gay community, but also a lot body dysmorphia.
The incident left the “Stay With Me” singer shaken, nonetheless his stories will certainly help teens in similar situations, and so will his music. Smith recently released a duet with John Legend of his In the Lonely Hour hit “Lay Me Down” for an upcoming Comic Relief special. The proceeds will go to various different projects, as well as the young LGBT community.
10. The girl who bullied her boyfriend into suicide
Michelle Carter, 18, was accused of involuntary manslaughter & causing death of Conrad Roy III in February 2015, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in his truck in Fairhaven, Massachusetts in July 2014
When Roy texted Carter that he was in doubt if he should take his own life and had climbed out of the vehicle, she allegedly texted him: “Get back in.” It has come out that she afterwards told a friend: “He got out of the car, and I told him to get back in… because I knew he would do it all over again the next day.”
The post 10 Most Horrible Stories of Bullying appeared first on TodayOutlook.com.