He looked dejected when he told his story to the neighbours. “Hi, I’m dropping by to see if you have any kids around 11, 12 that I can play with. I’m dying to have friends.” The neighbor had to disappoint the boy: he had no children of his own. But he directed him to another house, where they would be found. Jayden replied that those kids weren’t his friends anymore: “They bully me.”
The neighbor, Brennan Ray, still wanted to mean something to the boy and posted the video on TikTok. He wrote, “It takes two seconds to make someone’s day a success. You never know what people are going through until you get a chance to talk to them.”
You can see the whole video below.
Brennan had hoped the action would generate attention, but he never expected so many reactions. The video was viewed more than 70 million times in a few days. People posted comments like “oh, my heart,” “I want to be his friend,” and “what a sweetheart.”
The neighbor also started a fundraiser for Shayden. The counter of this is more than 37,000 dollars (about 33,500 euros).
The money is collected to buy various things for Shayden, such as tickets to an amusement park or school clothes. The money can also be used for a family trip. The action aims to make people aware of the suffering that bullying causes.
‘The world is my second family’
Shayden has since responded to all the attention he’s been getting. “It’s amazing. It really feels like the world is my second family,” he says to a local US news station. Shayden also indicates that he feels a lot more confident and happier. “I am a different person because of them. They are the most important thing that happened to me besides my mother.”
His mother also commented on her son’s video. “It wasn’t until I saw the video that I realized how lonely he felt. How alone he was.” She is therefore very happy with the attention for her son. She also has a message: “If you see someone being bullied, just be there for that person. Don’t let that person suffer.”
2023-07-12 09:31:41
#Bullied #American #boy #asks #neighbors #friends
