According to the mother, her son, Alex, has been deaf since he was a little baby. He has been bullied his whole life due to his cochlear implant and surgery scars. This latest incident, however, has the whole community up in outrage. The brave student noticed that his backpack, filled with his homework, a tablet, school supplies, money and a cochlear implant battery, was missing. He immediately went to the teachers who reviewed school security footage and discovered that it was taken by two teenage boys.
“Those students think it’s OK to bully a deaf student, but it’s not. It’s not OK to bully someone who is disabled, deaf or hard of hearing,” his mom said. “Or anyone for that matter.”The two boys had dumped his backpack into a toilet. The amazing mom also received an outpour of support as the image of his backpack in the toilet went viral on the internet. Her son received support from many, including some hard of hearing people.
“I wanted to thank all of my friends and those who wrote me for supporting me. I am very happy. It made me feel like I am not alone,” the deaf student said about the kind people who supported him. “They said they were here supporting me and they know how it feels to be deaf. So I’m very happy.” Alex and his mom still made the hard decision to pull him out of his school. They felt it was better for him to transfer away for his safety.
The high school he is transferring to has many hard of hearing students who say it is much better. “I have friends who are hard of hearing that go there and they say it’s good. They get a lot of support and they don’t get bullied,” Alex said hopeful for his new school. Alexand his mother hope sharing their story will prevent bullying in the future. Today was my kid — tomorrow it will be somebody’s else’s,” his mother said, fearful of what may happen to other kids.”
