Mum’s fury as son, 10, is left in tears after being bullied at school
A mother has shared a powerful message after her 10-year-old son was bullied on the school bus, leaving him in floods of tears.
A US mum has shared a heartbreaking message to other parents after her 10-year-old son was bullied on the school bus over his ‘Iron Man’ costume.
Jill Struckman had proudly shared a picture of son Evan dressed up as Tony Stark for a Halloween party as his Missouri school.
But just 20 minutes later she got a call from its office to say he’d been bullied and that they had tearful Evan on the phone
“Apparently some kids on the bus (who weren’t even wearing costumes) told him he looked stupid,” she wrote on Facebook.
“Evan got to school and immediately went to the bathroom and washed his face.”
She added her son was “crying” on the phone and was so hurt by the remark he didn’t want to stay for the Halloween party.
The heartbroken mum described feeling as if her heart had “dropped” after receiving the call and headed straight back to pick him up.
But his make-up – which included black goatee beard and tash with slicked back hair – had already been removed by the time she got there.
“He kept saying, ‘We worked so hard on it.’ He was really thinking about how I would feel, which tells you a lot about him,” she told Today.
Evan, who Jill said loves dressing up, felt embarrassed and defeated by the ordeal – prompting his mum to air her frustration on Facebook to share a photo of her son in tears.
Her post clearly resonated, being shared almost 260,000 times to date, and receiving thousands of comments and ‘likes’.
Eventually, Evan was able to muster up the courage to return to school that day, something Jill describes as “a defining moment in his life”.
“If he hadn’t gone back, it would have broken his spirit,” she said.
He also did it in full costume after his mum reapplied his make-up.
Evan now has fans all over the world and Jill said she can barely keep up with her inbox.
More Coverage
In one update she wrote: “Thanks for all the sweet words (and offers to beat up 10-year-olds) lol. I do appreciate you all.”
She also urged parents to remind their kids “words hurt”.
Continue the conversation @RebekahScanlan | rebekah.scanlan@news.com.au