Boy forgives classmates who forced him to lie in a muddy creek, used him as a 'human bridge'

Kristine Solomon
Brett Corbett forgave the classmates who bullied him, but his community in Nova Scotia is demanding that the high school he attends discipline the teens who humiliated him. (Photo: Getty Images)
Brett Corbett forgave the classmates who bullied him, but his community in Nova Scotia is demanding that the high school he attends discipline the teens who humiliated him. (Photo: Getty Images)

A high school freshman in Novia Scotia, Canada, taught the entire student body, their parents and his own mother a lesson in humanity by forgiving the classmates who bullied and humiliated him by forcing him to lie in a muddy creek. And that’s before they even had a chance to apologize.

Brett Corbett, a 14-year-old with cerebral palsy who attends Glace Bay High School, was outside in the rain when a group of his peers surrounded him and order him to lie face down in the shallow water so other students could step on him to get to the other side without getting their shoes dirty. In a video shot by one of the teens, Corbett crouches down as the current washes over him, and a girl steps on his back, essentially using him as a human bridge as a crowd lingers, laughing and egging each other on.

In a second video, Corbett lifts himself up, but the cackling teens start screaming at him to get back down. “Do it, you f*** b****!,” one calls out. So he does, and more students walk over him — three in total, the boy’s mother, Terri McEachern, told the Washington Post. McEachern didn’t find out about the incident until much later — and that’s because her son’s instinct was to protect his peers by not tattling on them.

“He didn’t tell [the principal] the truth about what happened to him at first because he said he didn’t want the other kids to get in trouble,” she told the Washington Post. “When she asked him whether he had been walked on after she watched the videos, he told her, ‘It’s OK, I was already wet.'” He had previously lied to her about being sent to the principal’s office drenched; he said he had taken up his classmates on a dare to swim in the creek.

But McEachern and school officials learned the truth when the videos the students had taken made their way to social media — and ultimately to a family friend, Brandon Jolie, who posted one on Facebook. “Never in my LIFE have I ever been more disgusted,” Jolie wrote, describing the disturbing scene in the clip. “Parents; you failed this generation. The amount of teenagers that stood around and watched this happen, even took videos of it. I hope you watch this video, recognize your kid and feel the shame. To the little girl that stepped on him; you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself.
Everyone who knows this boy knows he has a disability. How fricken hard is it to show some compassion?”

The post went viral, and commenters agreed, calling it “disgusting” and “despicable,” and calling for the teens to be disciplined. In the meantime, the students have had a change of heart, and many have personally apologized to the boy. Several girls even showed up at his house to read apology letters aloud to him, according to the Washington Post. “I shouldn’t have told you to go [into the creek]. I should have helped you up instead of breaking you down,” one girl said. “I made a really bad choice and I will live with that for the rest of my life,” another girl wrote, while a boy student called it “the worst decision of my life.” There were tears all around.

One of the girls even asked Corbett to be her friend “if you’re up to it,” and the two went upstairs to play Xbox together, McEachern said to the Washington Post. And while she’s happy for the apologies, she’s finding it hard as a mother to process the entire scenario and her son’s forgiving nature. “It’s just breaking my heart. This is his mindset,” she said. “Children with disabilities have the most amazing gifts in the world. They don’t see bad in anyone. They see so much good in everybody.”

Community groups are outraged too. Someone organized a “Stand for Brett Corbett” rally outside Glace Bay High School to “show Brett he is never alone,” according to the Washington Post. There were student walkouts on Friday to protest the fact that the school has not taken a firm stand, beyond suspending some of the students for one day. “Honestly, it’s sickening,” a junior at the school said. “It’s a little upsetting to see nothing done about it.” Even McEachern feels that punishment was a slap on the wrist.

A spokesperson for the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education, Michelle MacLeod, sent Yahoo Lifestyle the following statement addressing the incident:

“First, in no way do we condone bullying behavior. This incident is tremendously harmful to both the individual involved and the school community as a whole.

“We are disappointed and saddened by the behavior that led to the incident on the video.

“The negative actions of a few are not a reflection of what our Centre for Education, our schools, or staff and the vast majority of students at Glace Bay High School are all about. We are a strong community, bound by pride in our schools and compassion and care for one another. And we want to assure our parents and community that we have, and will continue to, work with the students, staff and parents to address this behavior.

“In addition to specifically addressing individuals involved, Glace Bay High School’s Principal, Vice-Principals and other members of Administration are leading a restorative practice process to work collaboratively with the school community. A restorative practice approach involves students, staff, parents, School Advisory Council and members of the school community, in a process that acknowledges the harm done and gives a voice to all in planning our way forward within a respectful, safe and secure learning environment.

“We all need to do better.”

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