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Home / Lifestyle

Mum's poignant letter to son's bullies

Herald online
14 Jan, 2016 09:32 PM2 mins to read

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While Michael appears incredibly resilient, he is deeply affected by the taunts of his classmates, says his mum. Photos / Facebook

While Michael appears incredibly resilient, he is deeply affected by the taunts of his classmates, says his mum. Photos / Facebook

"You don't have to like him, but you do have to respect him", wrote a mother to the bullies tormenting her son.

Posted to Facebook, MaryAnn Parisi from Connecticut in the US, was inspired to share her young son's struggle with school bullies after a frank conversation with the boy's teacher.

"He told his teacher 'It's OK, I'm getting used to [the bullying],'" Parisi told ABC News.

"That made me feel awful. It made me very angry because he shouldn't be getting used to it. He should not be OK with it. Bullying is not OK. It's not acceptable and you do not get used to it."

MaryAnn Parisi and her son, Michael. Photos / Facebook
MaryAnn Parisi and her son, Michael. Photos / Facebook
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In her post, she describes her son's tough start in life, explaining that he was born 26 weeks premature which led to developmental challenges and health problems.

"He didn't learn to talk till he was 3 years old. Walking was very delayed.

"He didn't have teeth till after his first birthday. He was so very behind," she wrote, suggesting the bullying may have been sparked by his physical and mental challenges.

Parisi's Facebook post goes on to call out the bullies' cruel behaviour: "You called him brace face today, before you were picking on him because of his eating habits. Did you know he physically cannot control the food staying in his mouth. Or how very bad his hand/eye coordination is ... Kicking his chair, calling him stupid, ugly, brace face, bucky beaver. Telling him to sit down and shut up is not the way."

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She said while her son appears incredibly resilient, he is affected by the actions of his classmates.

"He is most definitely resilient, but he was definitely bothered. There were tears and sadness. While he is amazing in his resiliency, in the end, he is still a young boy with very hurt feelings," she told news agency FOX 61.

Her post has received positive support and feedback.

Parisi said she has been encouraged by the responses and hopes her story can help others stand up to bullying.

- nzherald.co.nz

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