Jackson Bezzant is only seven years old and has gone through more things than a child his age should have gone through. How so?
He’s constantly being teased, taunted and called names such as “ugly” and “monster.”
To Jackson, he wants nothing more than to have friends and to stop being called a freak. While many teachers have stepped in to stop the bullying, nothing is truly working.
The problem has Jackson’s dad, Dan, in tears.
Jackson has a rare condition called Treacher Collins syndrome, which affects facial tissue and bone development. He’s also nearly dead and has undergone eye surgery to rebuild the socket.
Dan himself has seen the firsthand the abuse his son has endured – not just with kids but with people of any age.
He remembers the time he and his son walked past a woman who said, “Did you see that little boy’s face?”
After the incident at school, Dan made the decision to take a stand and created a post that went viral – something he never expected.
In the post, he put a photo of his son and laid out the situation. He talked about his son and his condition – about how his son but use hearing aids and his vision is severely impacted. Dan said his son would go through many surgeries in his lifetime. He talked about the three boys who bullied him one morning at school, but that it wasn’t just the kids that were a problem.
He said his son often talks about killing himself even though he’s only seven years old. Dan said kids throw rocks at his son and yell horrible things at him. He asked readers what they would do if it were their child going through things like this.
Dan asked them to educate their children and themselves about the rare condition. He begged readers to realize that what they say about a young child makes a huge impact on how they feel about themselves.
While he never thought his post would go viral, it certainly did. Since then, several kids at Jackson’s school have reached out to him – to become his friend and protect him.
Dan said he has never blamed the school or Jackson’s teachers but does blame the parents of the kids bullying his son. He wishes more parents would teach their children about love, acceptance and kindness.
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