Randy Smalls, a father in South Carolina discovered that his teenage daughter had been bullying a fellow classmate, making fun of her clothes and make up.
Smalls felt instantly ashamed of his daughter's behaviour and decided that he had to take swift action.
Having been himself bullied at school, the father felt sympathy for his daughter's classmate, Ryan Reese, a seventh-grader at Berkeley Middle School. In order to make up, Smalls used the money that he had set aside for his daughter and bought Reese a makeover and some new clothes.
Ironically, Smalls' wife and Reese's mother are friends, although they were not aware of the bullying at the time. After speaking to Ryan about the bullying, the two families got on the phone and Smalls asked if he could take her shopping.
Smalls told Yahoo News:
"I say, 'When you laugh along, you're co-signing the bullying. My daughter was upset, especially because she is into fashion. So she came with us and helped pick out Ryan's new clothes."
Smalls then took Ryan to the beauty salon and decided to pay for twice-a-month appointments until the end of the year.
Appreciating his gesture, local salons then offered Smalls free appointments for the next months.
Ryan's mother told Yahoo News that her daughter was suffering non-epileptic seizures due to increased stress levels associated with the passing of he father, grandfather and aunt.
She told of Small's gesture:
"I wasn't expecting it. I just started to cry. It (the bullying) was really sad for me because I had lost my grandpa, father, and aunt, and it really took me deep down in my depression. This is the first time I have seen a parent take such a stance on bullying."
Speaking to ABC's Strahan, Sara, and Keke, Smalls said:
"I didn't expect for this to get big but I'm glad if other parents [can learn from it]. My daughter learned her lesson. As parents, we have to take responsibility for what our children do. We can teach our children, but when they go and are around other children they can veer off a little bit. When situations like this happen, we have to take action and be the parent and not the friend."
[h/t: Upworthy]
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