You Deserve Good Things!
When Kelley Bezzant’s son was being bullied, she didn’t know what to do. But then his dad’s emotional outpouring went viral—and now Jackson has friends galore!
Arriving home from work, Kelley Bezzant was surprised to see her seven-year-old son wearing his Halloween Friday the 13th Jason Voorhees hockey mask.
“Why’d you dig that out?” she asked.
“I’m wearing it to school from now on. Because it hides my face and the bullies can’t see my eyes,” Jackson explained. Tears sprang to Kelley’s. What horrible name did they call you this time? the Ammon, Idaho, mom wondered, her heart breaking.
If they can’t see my face, they’ll leave me alone!
Born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a genetic condition affecting facial bone and tissue development, Jackson has a small jaw and chin and differently shaped ears and eyes. But despite hearing and vision impairments, Jackson was often aware of how other children— adults, too—stared at him.
Still, with loving parents and sisters and neighborhood kids who’d known him all his life, Jackson seemed content—until Kelley and Jackson’s dad, Dan, divorced, and Jackson started second grade at a new school.
“Weirdo!” kids shouted when Jackson walked by. “Monster boy!” “Freak!” Jackson never told his mom. Instead, he handed her his hearing aids and thick glasses and declared, “I’m not wearing these anymore!”
Kelley’s daughters con- firmed: Kids were mocking Jackson. Some were even throwing rocks!
Kelley told school officials, who disciplined the kids— when they witnessed the bullying. But they weren’t always around, and the meanness continued. So Jackson came up with his own solution.
“If they can’t see my face, they’ll leave me alone,” he told Kelley.
Taking the mask, Kelley whispered, “No. You look handsome the way you are.”
“Then I’m never going back to school!” he declared.
Calling Dan, Kelley wept, “We need to do something.”
Dan felt as if someone had plunged a knife into his gut. This isn’t right. Every child should feel loved and accepted for who he is! he thought as he posted on Facebook:
My heart is in pieces right now. My son Jackson has to endure a constant barrage of derogatory comments and ignorance. He says he has no friends and everyone hates him. Please, please, take a minute and imagine if this were your child.
Dan hoped his post might initiate conversations about kindness between his friends and their kids.
But the next morning, Kelley woke up to more than 100 Facebook messages!
Keep smiling, Jackson! You are stronger than you know!
Sending lots of love and hugs . . . people typed. And Kelley began to think: There are good people in the world! But would it help Jackson? Kelley read several of the posts to him, and that weekend, a neighbor they’d never met and her sons, Bear and Ky, dropped by.
Ky gave Jackson a toy car and a fidget spinner and Bear shared that he’d been bullied, promising to help Jackson.
And when Jackson came home from school . . . “The other kids invited me to sit with them at lunch and play kickball!” he beamed. “Everybody does love me!” The encouraging messages continue to arrive. Best of all, Jackson and Ky are now pals.
“Jackson is a different boy now. He’s positive and confident!” Kelley says. “That so many people would want to put a smile on a kid’s face and let him know he does have friends and support . . . this makes me believe in humanity and compassion. And having a happy kid makes me a very happy mom!”
— Bill Holton
“Inner beauty, too, needs occasionally to be told it is beautiful.” Robert Brault