Bullying is one of those topics that has garnered more headlines in recent years. But, is bullying really something new? Not really. Bullying has existed since the beginning of times, but it has been until recently that more thought has been put into investigating it and talking about it. When I was a kid, I had my fair share of bullying, but those were different times. Back then, you either had to defend yourself or walk it off. You could always talk to the principal, but it was not that big of a deal back then.
I was lucky because even though I was a very short and skinny kid, I always had bigger friends that would usually have my back. Some of the other kids at my school were not that lucky. One of my friends also got bullied at school so bad that he had to change schools a few times. The people at school got involved in the case and he did attend some counseling. The only thing is that at the time no real follow up was done.
Today, everything has changed. Schools are very worried about this and even have teams whose job is to make sure that these practices vanish from every school district. But it is an uphill battle. The minute a school detects someone being a victim of this, many more victims pop up without them even realizing it. Some people have gotten tired of this happening and decided to do something about it.
A YouTuber and entrepreneur named Matthew Bandeira decided to conduct a unique social experiment to test the waters in his hometown and see what the reaction of the people would be to something as sad as this. He hoped to create some awareness on the subject and teach adults and children of all ages.
What he did was gather a bunch of three older kids, and one younger one. They would be playing with a soccer ball outdoors and the idea was to pit the three “bullies” against the smaller boy. They would steal the ball from him and they would be hanging out in the back to see what people’s reaction would be. He didn’t have any expectations, it was something he needed to see.
So, the young boy was minding his own business. He is sitting on a bench and is carrying a backpack. He also has a soccer ball next to him. Then, the bullies come, and …
