When Bullies Target Boy, Fifth Graders Stand Up
When James Willmert, fourth from left, was getting bullied at school, a posse of fellow students decided they had his back. (Photo: Boyd Huppert/KARE 11)
Bullying stories are never in short supply — except when it comes to positive ones. All the more reason it’s so important to share the one about a handful of fifth-grade boys in Minnesota who decided to take action against the bullying of one of their schoolmates.
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When fifth grader James Willmert, who has a learning disability, was being picked on and harassed by other kids at Franklin Elementary in Mankato earlier this year, a few of his classmates took notice. “They were like, using him and taking advantage of him,” Jake Burgess explained to KARE 11 about the bullying kids, as pal Jack Pemble added, “because he’s easier to pick on and it’s just not right.”
In response, Jake and Jack, along with their friends Gus Gartzke, Tyler Jones, and Landon Kopischke, decided that they would put an end to it by befriending and protecting James. Now the boys eat lunch together, play sports at recess with each other, and are generally thick as thieves.
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Recently Mankato Area Public Schools honored the five boys with its Spirit of Youth Award after their teacher, Mallory Howk, nominated them for the recognition.
Franklin Elementary principal Travis Olson told Yahoo Parenting he declined to comment. But, Howk told KARE 11, “It really kind of makes you proud to be their teacher,” adding that she believed the school’s antibullying lessons had clearly paid off.
The boys who befriended James. (Photo: Boyd Huppert/KARE 11)
James’s mom, Margi Willmert, also spoke to the news station, noting that the boys’ friendship has made a huge impact on her son. "He used to not want to go out for recess or anything, it would be like a struggle,” she said. “And now he can barely eat his lunch to get outside to play with those guys.”
Through their friendship, the five boys have learned a lot about James: He was adopted from an orphanage in Colombia as an infant — and six years later, his father died in a bicycle accident. Now the boys have jumped in to help foster his love of sports. “They’re changing him,” says Margi. “We just got a basketball hoop last week because he now loves basketball.” And recently they all chipped in (with some help from their parents) to buy James a home video game system.
“This is so nice to see — it’s what we hope for,” Joel Haber, national bullying expert and counselor, tells Yahoo Parenting. “It only takes one leader in a group of kids who has empathy and confidence. Most kids want to do what’s right, but they’re afraid of losing their status.” In this case, the boys were brave — whether because of their parents or their school lessons or a combination of both — and decided to try being kind. “And the more they did, the more they got positive reinforcement,” Haber says. “The goal here is to help kids understand that being inclusive has so many benefits.”
Justin Patchin, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and co-author of Words Wound: Delete Cyberbullying and Make Kindness Go Viral, believes that this type of peer-allied strength is more common than many adults are led to believe. “We see examples like this quite regularly. They just aren’t the types of examples often promoted in the media,” he tells Yahoo Parenting. “It was stories just like this that inspired us to focus on promoting kindness in our book.”
Indeed, the website for the book, co-written with Sameer Hinduja, notes, “Everyone is looking for an answer to the bullying and cyberbullying problem. We know where it can be found: in teens themselves. More than parents, teachers, counselors, coaches, law enforcement — they have the power and ability to do something. To step up, and be the change they wish to see in the world (as Gandhi has so eloquently put it). They can combat hate by leading the way to promote tolerance, acceptance, and mutual respect. They can get their peers on board, and make it cool to care about others. They can help build cultures of kindness on their campuses, which can gain buy-in and traction from others, and then go viral — completely revolutionizing the way things are.”
Exactly like the boys of Franklin Elementary have done — and not for notoriety either. As Jake noted about James, “He’s an awesome kid to hang out with.”
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