“My son was bullied since he was in 1st grade. He is now a senior in college. His life was very stressful because of bullying. The kids that bullied him were so mean and called him gay, laughed at him, isolated him, got physical with him and tormented him. I talked to principals, teachers, counselors anybody who would listen. Nobody seemed to care enough to do something about it and stop the bullying. They were not trained on how to handle these type of situations. I got to the point where I was his protector from a distance. I volunteered for everything in his schools, so that I could be there as much as possible. My son never knew I did this for that reason. He would never talk about it and to this day he does not like to talk about it. I put him in counseling, he did open up and let some of it out. He became depressed, I was so afraid for him. I felt like we were fighting this battle alone. He survived and used this to motivate him to make something of himself and his life. I kept reminding him that he had to be true to himself and be happy. I would always say to him that despite what others would say he needed to do whatever made him happy. He did just that, he became the second male cheerleader in his high school and the first male dance team member in the school’s history. He was such a great dancer and inspiration to all that he was held in such high regard. People that had bullied him and others would come out just to see him perform and would cheer him on and actually compliment him! He was one of the lucky ones that made it through.”