“This is not one-time thing. You always have to stick up for kids that are bullied. It’s the right thing to do.” – Harice Hodges
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It’s not easy at all to stand up for what’s right. Peer pressure, especially in middle school and high school, can be such a powerfully negative influence.
But in Lincoln Middle School, students turned peer pressure on it’s head, by standing up for one of their classmates.
During a basketball game, members of the crowd began making fun of Desiree Andrews, a cheerleader who has Down syndrome. Instead of jumping in, or ignoring it, the boys from the Lincoln Middle School basketball team decided to intervene.
“They were pointing and laughing at her from the stands,” says Miles Rodriguez, one of the basketball player who stood up for Desiree. “It’s not funny to make fun of somebody by the way they look or act.”
During a timeout, three boys of the team went into the crowd and confronted the bullies with a simple message:
“Don’t mess with her.”
Afterwards, they went to their sports director and asked that he to talk to the people and tell them not to make fun of Desiree.
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This has sparked a beautiful friendship between Desiree and the boys, who they now affectionately call Dee. The school has renamed the gym ‘D’s House,’ to honor Desiree.
The basketball team has also started a new tradition in which they always includes Desiree in their starting lineup and give her high-fives and fist bumps before the start of the games.
With so many negative stories, it is indeed nice to see how these young athletes are supporting one another and promote kindness in the school.
“People will say that kids look up to teachers,” Timothy Nieman, the school’s sport director said. “Well, I think in this case that many teachers are looking up to them.”
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The Good Men Project Sports’ Tuesday weekly feature, Doing It Right, highlights athletes who gives back and/or make a difference in our society.
Photo Credit: Flickr/Pierluigi (Piero) C.
Dօ you have any video of that? I’d want to find out more details.