Bullying is all around us. The boy at school, the parent on the soccer field, and the woman behind her computer screen…they are all around us. My family has had firsthand knowledge of this cruel and disgusting act. While my son, who was eight at the time, was taunted, poked, harassed, teased, chased at a public school in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Though his stay at this despicable institution was short lived, the emotional repercussions are still present. To this day, Logan will talk about his horrific experience there. They went after him because he was different.

When we reached out to the school faculty they told us “Well, the parents are worse than the kids, so, it won’t do any good to say anything to them. But, Logan is having issues, he’s not social enough. He stays on the swings the entire time at recess.” *flipped the table on us*

When I asked Logan about the swings, his response “If I swing, then they can’t get to me.”

My son was terrified. His logic was if he stayed in motion then the bullies couldn’t taunt him. After several attempts of resolving this, Phil and I had had enough. I thanked them for their incompetence and the emotional destruction of my child and that our decision to homeschool became obvious.

Now, mind you, I was facing my own adult bullying issues. I was being harassed by grown women (I use that term loosely) who used facebook as their weapon. I was living in the movie Mean Girls. Needless to say, I still have trust issues with women and I am very cautious with who I befriend.

After some time, Logan came to me to tell me that he had forgiven his bullies and I should too. My very wise and very kindhearted son. Those twenty-seven days of pure hell, watching Logan slowly emotionally succumb: the anxiety attacks, the crying in my arms daily, self-worth broken down to nothing, this is the damage that they unleashed on an innocent eight year old.

Bullying is NEVER OK! No matter what age you are. And if you are a parent who feels that it’s alright to make fun of others, than shame on you. If you don’t know that person, if you don’t know what road they have had to travel, then keep your mouth shut.  I have ended friendships of my own because one or both of the parents were bullies. They would speak ill of others and laugh about it. It made me wonder, what do you they say about my family when I’m not around? What do they say about Logan and him being on the Autism Spectrum?

There are different types of bullying. And once someone says something and you question your self-worth, they are a bully.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. We need to take a stand against those who think it’s alright to degrade others because obviously they are insecure about their own lives. They feel the need to tear down out of jealously or hatred. A lot of it’s done over the internet, social media sites, and teenagers attacking each other on facebook and twitter.

Have you read this story: Bullied Michigan teen, nominated to homecoming court as a cruel joke, cheered as hero? The community rallied around this amazing young girl while the harsh, disgusting bullies watched their plan back fire. What was the point of this? To make her feel different? She already felt that way. So adding salt to the wound was a must for them. How awful to live with such distain in your heart.

Phil and I are blessed to have such an amazing kid, who not only loves unconditionally but forgives with his whole heart. His soul is as pure as any I have ever seen.  Logan will be writing his own blog post about bullying which he has touched upon briefly in his autism post a few months back.

Never let someone tell you that you aren't good enough, you’re not what others look like, you’re not the “norm”, pish, who wants to be normal, blech, what a dirty word. Embrace who you are and all your stellarness! God created YOU and that is ALL THAT MATTERS. Like Logan always says “I’m different and I look good doing it.” And so do you!