Bullying sadly remains a very real problem for far too many children.
There is little sadder than seeing children being bullied, but even laws are unable to stop children from being bullied. Every day children are bullied for wearing a pink shirt, having a disability or just because people are just plain mean.
As a victim of bullying himself when he was much younger, Chris Kuykendall knows the pain of being bullied all too well. Like far too many kids, when Chris was bullied he was too scared to tell his parents and instead tried to power through it. Now Chris is a star high school football player, but he’s doing something much better as well.
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When Chris heard about a young 5-year-old boy being bullied that he knew he had to do something. This poor little boy was being bullied so badly he was throwing up from the fear. This wasn’t the only instance of horrific bullying in their area either. Tragically, a 13-year-old bullying victim decided to commit suicide than bear going through bullying any longer. Chris knew deep down in his heart that he needed to be the change to stop bullying in its track.
It just hit home. I remembered how I felt when I was getting bullied, it just fired me up. I wanted to change that right then and there. i didn’t want him to go another day, wake up another day, feeling like he didn’t need to go to school.
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That’s when Chris began to brainstorm how he could help the bullying victim in a way where the bullying wouldn’t just start up again.point 122 | That’s when Chris had an amazing idea.point 160 | Simply have lunch with the young boy in front of the entire school.point 215 |
The idea was simple — the bullies would see Chris, a star football player, sitting with this kid and they would see that he was actually really cool.point 124 | The plan worked flawlessly and finally the little five-year-old boy was able to go back to school without fear.point 217 | 1
In fact, the plan worked so well that when a fellow athlete on Chris’ football team, Brevin Young, heard about it, he decided to join in too. Much like Chris, Brevin was also bullied a lot as a young kid, so he understood the pain these poor children were going through.
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Together the two formed what would be known as “Eagle Buddies”. A group dedicated to pairing older athletes with young bullied kids to help stop bullying in its tracks. The two have already helped many children just by having lunch with them. It’s very touching to see two 16-year-old boys with hearts as big as this managing to help stop an all too common problem for many children.
In the video below you will hear a heartwarming story about a fifth grader who suffered horrible bullying until these two amazing footballers were finally able to help. Finally this boy has the confidence to be himself and go to school without fear.
You will also see Chris and Brevin’s mothers who could not be happier to see their boys doing so much good for the community. Perhaps with more boys like Chris and Brevin one day bullying will truly be a thing of the past.
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