Bullying is hard for any child. But when a child has a disability, the stakes feel even higher.

In this episode of Driven By Purpose, we have an honest, emotional conversation about what’s really happening in schools today. From inclusive environments to the harsh reality outside that “bubble,” we break down what parents are facing and what can actually help.

We share real stories, including:

▫️ Kids being mocked in school settings

▫️ The emotional impact on families

▫️ Why exposure and inclusion matter but aren’t always enough

▫️ Practical ways parents can help protect their kids

One powerful idea discussed: helping kids build community and protection through structured environments like sports teams. When kids are known, supported, and included, everything changes.

We also dive into the bigger picture:

▫️ Why bullying happens in the first place

▫️ The role of insecurity and lack of exposure

▫️ How parents can prepare their children emotionally

▫️ The importance of educating others, not just reacting

This is not an easy conversation, but it’s a necessary one.

If you’re a parent, educator, or someone who cares about inclusion, this episode will give you both perspective and actionable ideas.

What You’ll Learn:

▫️ Why bullying still happens even in inclusive schools

▫️ How to prepare your child for new environments

▫️ Real strategies to build support systems for kids with disabilities

▫️ How to respond when your child is targeted

▫️ Why exposure and education are key to long-term change

Subscribe for more conversations on purpose, inclusion, and building better lives for people with disabilities.

SUBSCRIBE & CONNECT…

📱 Follow @drivenbypurposepodcast on all platforms

🧼 Clean Logic — cleanlogic.com

🌟 Inspiration Foundation — inspirationfoundation.org

👤 Isaac Shapiro — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/isaac-shapiro

👤 Mike Ghesser — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michael-ghesser-b837a552

👤 Evan Rosenblum — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/evan-rosenblum-141601237

RESOURCES…

▫️ Learn about the Inspiration Seal — inspirationfoundation.org

▫️ Clean Logic accessible products — cleanlogic.com

What kind of a person bullies a kid with disabilities A lot

more than you think, and as a parent, you're faced with choices.

How do you address that?

How do you deal with that?

We're gonna talk about that today.

I'm driven by purpose.

This is driven by purpose, a show about finding your purpose,

building fulfilling careers.

And helping people with disabilities live better lives hosted by

three men who've lived it and are here to help you do the same.

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, clean Logic, a leading bath

and skincare company, and a true pioneer in creating inclusive workplaces.

And increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

What's up everybody?

Welcome to another episode of Driven By Purpose.

My name is Evan Roseville.

I'm along with co-founders of Clean Logic and the Inspiration Foundation.

Uh, Isaac, Spiro, my guesser, sorry.

I got a lot of emotion today 'cause we're talking about a topic that I've

been thinking about for a long time, and that's bullying kids with disabilities.

And it's something, uh, that I've been dealing with, uh, a personally,

uh, not, not my kids directly, although there has been some of that.

But I've been talking to a lot of parents who've been dealing with

this over the last couple days and it, it just pisses me off so much.

Um, I know we deal with a lot of positivity and we deal with a lot of,

uh, constructive conversations on this show a lot, and we help people and today

is gonna be one where we all gotta pitch in and talk about how to deal with this

in a constructive, positive way because, um, it's a big thing that's out there

and it's been happening a lot more lately, especially with the families and

the people that I've been talking to.

For some reason, there has just been a, a, it's been a topic that's been

coming up a lot more than usual.

I dunno about you guys, Mike Isaac.

Have you guys been experiencing this lately or is it just something that I've

been dealing with and, and noticing?

Uh, for me, not really, to be honest with you.

They have where, where Rosie goes, they do an amazing job.

So I'm very, very curious to know what is your story?

Because for me, exposure with bullying to bullying for people with disabilities.

Kind of almost non-existent.

So I'm very concerned.

Yeah.

And I wanna know what's going on.

Yeah.

Well, you know, look, one of the things that we can all just recognize

from looking around going on social media is the, the rise of the R word.

Again, everybody sees that.

I mean, that's something that a couple of years ago people weren't using

that word, and now it's kind of made a comeback and people are using it

a lot more casually in conversation.

And that's.

That's a whole of the show, I guess, but I think it, it, it kind of

blends into this conversation today.

Um, but look, I was having a conversation with a parent at our school and, and my

daughter and my son both go to a school.

It's an inclusive school.

It's, uh, it means that uh, kids with disabilities, uh, sit side

by side with typical kids who sits side by side with gifted kids.

All these kids sit side by side at the school.

It's an amazing place.

When you leave that bubble though.

Um.

And kids aren't exposed to kids who, uh, appear different, act

different, have different, um, disabilities, stuff like that.

Uh, you, it's, it's a different world.

Um, but what concerns me specifically this time is I was talking

to a parent who has two kids.

I was a single mom, has son and a daughter, and the older son is leaving

our little bubble and going to a different school and is concerned that.

The son is being bullied at our school, at like our place, our

little safe space, which is like.

An amazing place where there's exposure and we're doing everything right and

there's still bullying happening.

And I was asking like, what kind of bullying are we talking about?

And this kid is visibly different and uh, is just dealing with stuff that

a, a kid shouldn't have to deal with.

When you're, when you're this young and you have, uh, disabilities

and, and things that you know, you can't change, you can't deal with.

And the mom was concerned that this kid is going into high school next year and

the bullying is gonna get worse because if it's already affecting kid and the family

at a place where you're dealing with kids who are exposed to people who are

different, imagine when you go to a place when you're dealing with kids who aren't.

Exposed to people who are different and it's terrifying for that family.

And I, I was having conversations with other people and from different schools

and I have heard a couple similar stories, horror stories from other

parents who have kids with disabilities who were going to other schools who.

Were kind of telling me that when they first started at different places,

that they were experiencing similar experiences, and that sucks and I hate it.

So I was having conversations with people and just picking people's

brains and talking about like, okay, what's the right advice to give to

this parent and other parents who were.

Have, who have kids who are experiencing, you know, that that kind of, uh,

bullying situations or they're concerned that they're going to another school

and are concerned that they're gonna experience this at another school.

My brain automatically jumped to sports because this is how I

dealt with it when I was a kid.

And I remember growing up, there was a kid that I grew up with, uh, his name was

Chad and he was, uh, uh, significantly disabled and he had a dog with him and.

What his par, first off, he was the best.

And what his parents did, what he did was he was a lover of sports.

And what his parents did is he went to the, uh, athletic director at my high

school and he got involved with all the sports programs and he got to know all the

athletes, um, the football team, on the baseball team, on the wrestling team, and.

Everybody.

I mean, he was the best kid in the world, Al also, which helps.

But he became friends with like the coolest, the, the, the, the

big strong popular kids at school.

And everybody got to know him.

And once you get to meet this kid and understand like he's the best,

all of a sudden he had like a band of brothers that were looking out for him.

Nobody messed with his kid.

And he's in, you know, every, all of our high school pictures and

stuff, Chad's right there with everybody and everybody loved him.

And I was talking to my brother, who's a high school football coach in a school in

California, and I was asking him, I was like, look, if a parent came up to you

and said like, I have a kid who has some disabilities and we're trying to figure

out a way, uh, to have him, you know, uh.

I, I'm concerned about bullying.

He's, he's dealing with some of this at his school right now.

I wanna set him up for success.

The next school, if I came and talked to the athletic director and met with

the football coach, baseball coach, wrestling coach, basketball coach, et

cetera, and just said, I want my co, I want my kid to just have a role with

the, with the, with these teams and get to know the players and stuff like that.

Is that, does that work?

My brother was telling me like, that happens and he loved it.

I mean, he said it was a great idea that these most, it's not foolproof.

There are there, you know, it doesn't always work a hundred percent of the

time, but most people are good people.

And if a parent comes to you and says, like, I'm concerned about, you

know, my kid facing bullying, and you deal with a coach who wants to like

bring your kid in and introduce him to the team like most of the time.

It's a good plan, and the kids will rally around your kid and bring 'em

in, and they'll be a part of the team and they'll make 20 friends right

off the bat, and you'll have, you know, a, a built-in group of friends

that'll help look out for your kids.

I love, I love that you're already jumping into the solution, but I got, I

got a couple clarifying questions here.

Yeah, go ahead on this.

Go

ahead.

You know, just because some of the things I'm thinking about, you know, you

would ask, are you aware of bullying?

Well, I hear about bullying, whether they have a disability

or not is still a big thing.

So when you're talking about this, is this in school, do you see it

also evolving to online bullying?

Like, I'm just very curious 'cause like I said, I'm hearing about this,

this with parents, um, you know, that are dealing with it with their child

doesn't have a disability, but the whole online bullying thing is become a thing.

Can you maybe, uh, get a little bit deeper into is this becoming

more broad in that sense?

And that's why it's maybe amplifying, 'cause we're hearing about social media,

so I just wanna get a little bit deeper.

Some of that, the people that I was talking to specifically were

dealing with like, uh, you know.

Personal in-person, bullet in situations, person.

Okay.

You know, it was happening, you know, on campus, uh, in person

stuff, in class, stuff like that to

their face or,

um,

behind their back, their loud enough that they can hear it.

Things like that.

Right.

Yeah.

Mocking, things

like that.

So I have a question, and I think this, this is also a, um,

a piece of relevant information.

Is the kid being bullied, physically disabled or intellectually disabled?

And to what degree?

Um, the one in particular that I was talking to, uh, has, uh, intellectual

disabilities and then it's, uh, o obvious.

There's, there's physical disabilities that go along

with that.

Sure.

Understand.

Not that it makes it okay, one or the other, but I think there's, uh,

there's an element of inclusivity or that can be adjusted based

on what the understanding is.

Yeah.

And then, and then another question for maybe both of you is, uh, since

my children are still young and during that, you're talking about your

children are in inclusive schools.

So not every school has a program where your children are integrated

with people with, you know, that have their disabilities, like, right.

Can you give just a little bit clarity?

'cause I think you're saying that they're gonna go to another

school that doesn't have this.

So I'm assuming the schools that you have.

They're unique, even maybe is it part of a public school?

So maybe some background on some of that would be, uh, helpful.

Sure.

I mean, I think, you know, the school we go to right now, it's a charter school.

It's affiliated with, uh, L-A-U-S-D, Los Angeles, uh, you

know, unified School District.

And, um.

It's great school.

The school where my kids go to school is, is fantastic, but you know,

not, no school is perfect, right?

And even when you preach inclusivity and, um, you know, exposure to people who are

different than you, which is, you know, so important that there are still people who,

you know, don't learn all the lessons and there's still things that are happening.

That force people to, you know, insecurities that are happening or for

whatever reasons that, you know, uh, lead kids to, to bully other kids, right?

So whatever's happening, this, this kid in particular is getting

made fun of or whatever at school.

And there, unfortunately, there aren't enough.

People around him, adults or other students stop it.

Unfortunately, at this particular place right now, hopefully

that, that, that happens.

Hopefully the, the, the moms talking to other administrators,

other, other professionals that are kind of helping to stop it.

Other kids around school see it, stop it too.

You hope that that happens, but also as the kids get older and they go to high

school, you know when you see a kid with a disability and it's an obvious

disability and you see somebody making fun of a kid with a disability, that

somebody will say, Hey, that's not okay.

And actually.

Say something to stop the bully from doing something like that.

And I just feel like, you know, exposure is so important, right?

And as a parent, you just try to find your way.

You, you, you, you know, it, it sucks to, to feel that pressure as a parent,

to have, to try to put your kid constantly in a position to succeed.

But if you know this is happening already, it sucks that you have

to do it, but you have to do it.

And so you have to take steps.

To try and put your kid in the best possible situation to not

be picked on and stuff like that.

And it's, it's just, it's not fair.

It's not fair at all.

And I feel so horrible for that particular parent and other parents who

are dealing with this, but it's just, it's the reality of the situation.

You gotta figure out a way to put your kid in the best possible situation

to succeed and not deal with.

Sorry for the language.

Now, Evan, do you, do you talk to Sydney about that, you know, and

say, Hey, you know, like, do you have that conversation setting up or do

you wait for an incident to happen?

Or like you're saying talk, how do you talk to your child?

So do you talk to Sydney already about that knowing maybe?

Yeah, I mean we've, we've had experiences with that where, you know,

we've had kids that come up to Sydney.

You know, Sydney is the, you know, Sydney's my daughter, she's 10 years old.

She has severe cerebral palsy, she's nonverbal, and uh, she's in a wheelchair.

And, uh, she is very obviously visibly different than, um, most kids, right?

And we've had other kids who are her age, who are older, who are younger, who have

come up and multiple times over the years.

I have made rude comments to her, and most of the time it's, uh,

you know, it's not mean-spirited.

They're not trying to be mean to her intentionally.

Um, there, there has been an, an occasion or two, I think we've talked about it on

the show, where a kid has said something mean, and I've tried to give the kid the

benefit of the doubt and be like, come on.

Like, hey.

Uh, but sometimes they take it too far.

You just have to draw a line and you have to, you know.

You're trying to protect the other kid's feelings.

You're trying not to be mean to the other kid, but also my priority is to

protect my daughter's feelings too.

If I could tell my daughter's feelings are hurt by what some other kid's

saying, there's a point where you just have to stop the interaction from

happening and protect your daughter.

So that's happened too.

And then I have to shut it down and then have that conversation with

my daughter and say, Hey, look.

You know, not, not, you're the best.

You are so friendly.

Uh, we had a situation this past weekend where we were out outside of our bubble.

We had left town and kids aren't used to seeing a 10-year-old in a wheelchair.

They stop and they stare.

And Sydnee will say hi, and she'll wave and she'll try to engage and kids

will just stare at her like she's a zoo animal and she doesn't understand

why they don't want to engage back.

And they're just looking at her because they haven't seen

a kid in a wheelchair before.

And it's confusing to her because everybody at her school, when she waves

and says hi, people say hi back, and they wave and they want to talk and

listen to music and share all that stuff.

And they don't get, and she doesn't get why people in the,

in the outside of her world.

Don't wanna engage with her.

So you have to explain like, hey, you know, sometimes people just, you know,

they're not used to seeing somebody who talks through the computer.

They, you know, and, and they, it's, it's, um, it's different and it's,

it's interesting to them and sometimes they don't know how to talk and, and

express themselves and you explain it to sydnee and sometimes she

gets it and she's understanding and sometimes she's a little frustrated.

But try to explain to her the best you can.

Um, she's a pretty happy person overall.

I don't think she's bothered by it.

At this point, you know, I haven't really seen her get too

angry about it at this point.

Yeah.

But

she's only 10

now.

Mike, what about your situation since, uh, you know, your daughter, you know,

you were saying you're not dealing with that, so it's different for us.

Is it?

Yeah.

So talk about that.

So as a, so I wanna go back to a comment you said Evan, um, earlier

about, you know, as a disability parent, we always need, any parent

does the best they can for their kids.

But I think as a disability parent you have.

A lot of other things to consider.

The schools they go to, city goes to a charter school.

We picked a school district that has programs specifically

tailored to life skills for Rosie.

Um, and we moved across the country.

One of the reasons we went to this school and moved from Los Angeles to

Philadelphia was for that reason because.

You do the best that you can.

You're, you'll do whatever you can for your kids.

And fortunately, God bless us, we're, you know, fortunate

enough to be able to do that.

It's interesting, and, and I'm glad that we did because at, at Rosie

specific school, they re it's, they do more than integration and

they really like get every kid.

Regardless of the grade, familiar and exposed to, uh, the people with

disabilities in, in the school.

And they were, they removed the stigma.

You, you're gonna have, you're gonna have kids at any school that have

parents, I think is facts of fact.

But our school in particular really like, makes it as like not an issue as possible.

And what I've seen.

When Rosie's in school, it's so accepting and they, everybody says hi

to her and she says hi to everybody and everybody like knows her and

talks to her and they understand.

She speaks with the device and they, even though like her behaviors

like Rosie sometimes when like she stems and kids will look.

They're taught why?

You know it.

You're right.

And, and when we go outside of school, when we're outside of the bubble at a

restaurant, it's a little bit different because we don't know where all of those

kids come from and sometimes pressure is too much for Rosie and she will.

Grab people's hair.

Right?

That's one of her behaviors is she'll grab people's hair.

The death grip, the death grip, and she's not hurting anybody.

Got it.

I got it.

And she doesn't, yeah, she's not pulling people's hair, she just grabs it.

It's a reaction.

And if you're a stranger at a restaurant, and this has happened many

times, you're like, what is going on?

Like, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

And it's probably one of the, the most stressful, embarrassing,

like hard moments as a parent.

Like, you have to go to this person to pry your kid's hand off their hair.

This stuff.

Pulling and explain why, but still to this day, we've never experienced a situation

with Rosie in school out of school where it's been bad or negative people at least.

In our surroundings understand and, and can see the difference.

That's not to say that Rosie's not stared at, because to your point, Evan,

sometimes they stare at her, often.

They stare at her.

She's, she's clearly not.

She doesn't look like everybody else and she's in a wheelchair or she's in her

walker, or she's stemming and doing things that not that typical children don't do.

I'm not sure how aware of that she is, or if she is, thank God she doesn't care.

Um, and I'll, I'll go to the other side of this, like her sisters will

go up to people who are staring at Rosie and say, that's my sister.

She's in a wheelchair, or she's disabled.

And like they'll smooth it out.

So there's just.

The support system, the family, like the friends that do understand, I think

it's super helpful and I, I would say like to encourage the re a reduction in

bullying or weird situations like that.

Like the more people that are accepting that can support and

help and speak to people that don't know is certainly helpful.

Bullies.

I mean, it's the worst.

There's a whole symptom there that needs to be dealt with and fixed.

And, you know, I, I feel terrible for any kid that has to endure bullying,

but then on the other side, I have sympathy for the kid that has to

bully because what's going on there?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, there's, I mean, you, you think about it and there's, you know,

there's a lot of insecurity there.

There's a lot of, you know, when you're a, when you're a kid and

you're bullying another kid and you start peeling back layers.

There's so many factors that could go into that, right?

Yeah.

There's probably stuff going on at home.

There's probably stuff going on with you.

There's probably stuff, you know, you probably need help, and it's probably,

it really is a cry for help when you are taking it out on, especially

a kid with disabilities who has a harder time defending his or herself.

Yeah.

Than a typical person.

It's a cry.

It's usually a cry for help, but that doesn't, it doesn't make it okay.

Doesn't, if you're the parent of a disabled kid doesn't make it okay.

You're not like, oh, little Johnny over there has got some stuff at

home that makes it okay for him to pick my kid, go make fun of my No.

You're like, yeah.

I think there's, uh, two ways to look at this.

'cause you know, we, like, we heard when Drew came on and he was handicap and

people actually threatened to beat him up.

Like, yeah, what the heck?

Where's your head?

Yeah.

So where, where's that?

And then I actually think you guys bring up a good point.

It's not bullying, but it's still something, you know, that again was

been a lot of my motivation in life.

It used to bother me when people stared at my mom and I walking

into a restaurant, you know?

So there is that, like you said, that stigma and I still think

like that bothered me a lot.

And it'd be annoying as a child and be like, why are you guys staring at us?

So it's great that your kids are going up and approaching, and I think what I've

learned is people aren't staring out of.

Rudeness.

It's just curiosity, um, and doing that.

And I think that balancing act of like, how do you change it and

recognize that, hey, you could change someone's perception, you know?

So it's great that your daughter is out talking to people and that's what's

gonna help change it rather, you know.

Instead of being upset because I felt like I was a little bit chip on my

shoulder of like, ah, why do people stare?

You know, I'd actually stare back and like glare at people.

Uh, so I like that your kids are going up and talking because I think you just,

it's really just people don't know.

And um,

I think also we do this show to talk about this to reduce the

stigma and to educate people.

And I think for the same reasons we do this show, if we're

ever in a situation in public.

Talk about it like when people stare.

Yeah.

Like to me, like I understand and I'll go answer a question or I'll hear a kid

saying, mommy, why is she in a wheelchair?

And then I'll just say to the daughter and the mom or whoever the kid is

that's looking, and I'm like, oh, she's disabled and this is what her

issue is and here's what it means.

And I think you're making an impact on that kid.

And certainly the, the, the parent as well.

And hopefully that in that moment they won't forget it and they'll

understand in the future as more exposure to people with disabilities

or anybody that's different from them.

You know, it's okay to ask and just how to be more accepting in the future.

Going back to my sports thing from earlier in the show when I was talking

about going and finding a sports team.

I wanna, I wanna say like, I'm not saying go find the biggest,

strongest kids in that way.

You know, they can beat up whoever bullies your kid.

I think the, the message that I was trying to articulate earlier was, you

just gotta find a group that will, you know, you gotta find a tribe for your kid.

Yes.

Right.

And whether, you know, for me, and you know, we're a sports oriented family,

and I know that, you know, Sydnee likes sports stuff, but she also really

likes music and she likes dancing.

For her when she goes into high school.

Uh, you know, when that, when that day comes, you know, for us, and you know,

when I'm not going to the football team and the football coach and saying, Hey,

coach Sydnee wants to be the water, the water girl for the football team.

No, for her, it'll be the, you know, the theater person, the music person, and

the cheerleading person, all that stuff.

That's what Sydnee loves.

I'll talk to those people and I'll make sure that Sydney's involved with those

groups and you know, Sydney will hopefully have exposure with those, these students

and the adults that are running those programs and she'll make friends there and

she'll have a group of friends that'll, you know, look out for her the same way

that like the football team looked out for my friend Chad, when we were growing up.

And, um, it just.

Is that, is that, is that not normal?

Like, I mean, I think like, as you talk about this, you

gotta advocate for your child.

So I'm thinking, you know, what are parents doing today when

they're getting to high school?

Like, uh, I would think the same thing.

Go, you know, trying to find things of their interest, but

you're talking like it's normal.

Is that not normal right now, Evan?

Or,

well, look, if I'm, if I'm just cutting the.

I'm being, being honest with you, if my, if I had a son and my son

was being physically, if there was a concern that he was being

physically bullied, I'm just, no.

No.

I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna just sit here and say Kumbaya.

I would make sure that my friends, that my son, uh, was, was hooked in with

the biggest, strongest kids in school.

All right.

I'm just being honest with you because if I was concerned that my son was

getting physically, um, there was a, if I was concerned for my son's

physical safety, I would make sure that my son was being protected by the.

To people who could protect my son.

I mean, I'm, that's just being honest with you.

And I know that sounds caveman, barbaric, whatever, but like that's just the truth

you're protecting.

That's what I

would.

You're being a parent and you wanna make sure your kid's protected and safe.

You do what you need to do.

That's right.

And so that's why I, that's why I would go, if I was in the

situation as the parent that I talked about at the beginning of

the show, that's what I would do.

I would go to the football coach, the wrestling coach, the basketball

coach, the baseball coach.

And if I was concerned that there was a physical element of danger for my son,

that there was a kid at school that was getting, that was threatening, any kind

of physical violence that was touching my kid, getting too close to my kid,

I would go to the football coach and here's the conversation I would have.

I'm not saying that this kid's, I don't know the kid's, uh, diagnosis, but in

this hypothetical, let's say that my kid, uh, had, um, severe autism, okay?

I would say my kid is really autistic and, um, he's run into some people

who mistreat him because of it.

I want him to be, you know, he loves sports.

He, he loves football, he loves, he loves being a part of a group.

He has a hard time making friends.

Um, I'm telling you, uh, I will support.

Any efforts to, as a parent, to, to keep involved football team, whatever you

need from me, you have my full support.

Um, I want him to be involved and I want him to be a part of this group.

I want him to, to be a part of this team.

I want him to experience what a team is like.

Football team sounds great.

The program sounds great.

You can consider me an ally and a support.

Whatever you need from me as a parent, what I need from you is to make sure

that he feels supported by the team.

Whatever you need from him, as far as you know, he'll, he'll come to every practice.

He'll come to every game, he'll come to every meeting, whatever it is.

He'll be there.

He'll, he'll be just as, um, committed as all the players are and

he'll be a part of the brotherhood.

I want him to be friends with everybody.

I want him to feel as included.

Can you, can you commit to me the same way that I'll have him commit to the team?

And if the coach says yes, great.

Because I know that what'll grow from that is the brotherhood

and the, uh, the connections and the respect for each other.

And I'll ultimately, the protection that I'm looking for, for him.

I know that, that that'll happen.

I've seen it happen.

I've experienced it.

I, you know, I've talked to other people who, who have told me the same.

I'm, again, I'm not saying that's foolproof and that's gonna happen

every single time, but that'll make me feel a lot better too.

You're, you're certainly doing what you need to do and makes you

feel comfortable and probably could produce an outcome that you want.

And I'd also like to imagine that in today's world, there's a team.

There's a team member that has a family, a relative, something that's disabled.

Somebody on the coaching staff has that, so they might be more

open and sensitive to that.

So I think that's, I think what what you're suggesting is actually great.

And to do, you know, hearing what you're saying makes me feel incredibly.

Thankful to the district that we are in, because Ev they do this

with everybody, all the teachers.

All the staff.

Like they're just so open and, and like, not that it's fool foolproof,

but like, wow, we have a good out here.

Well, like I said, bullying isn't just,

yeah.

You know, dis disabled.

It's

for everybody.

Children with disabilities, it's, you know, that's, that's what I think.

It's, um,

but the staff, you know, uh, the, the school staff needs to be like, super

aware of it and open to prevent it and do what they need to do to make every

kid feel included, dis disabled or not.

And then for my son, who's typical, but the lessons I'm trying to teach

my son is when you see somebody that's mistreating somebody else, you.

You stand up and stop it.

You be the leader.

You don't let, you don't, you know, I'm sure you guys have seen videos online

where you see, you know, somebody getting mistreated or whatever,

and then you see all the bystanders that just sit there and watch like

it's a, like, it's a reality show.

I hate that.

Whenever I see these videos and I see people like, you

know, you see somebody that's.

Something horrible happening, and then you see everybody in the background

just watching, just like put their arms crossed, like watching it happen.

No, man, if you see somebody that's being mistreated, like, and you're a,

a, you know, a good person, you stop it.

Hey, you don't, you don't let, you can't talk to somebody that way.

You don't treat somebody that way.

You stop it.

So, lemme ask you a question.

How do you deal with this in your, in your opinion?

So let's just say there's bullying going on in school and whether it's

towards somebody who's disabled or not disabled, but there's a bully and Sure.

Bully's been talked to, bully's been dealt with with the school.

Bullying continues, right?

Sure.

And there's consequences.

Maybe the consequences at school are severe or not severe

enough, but it continues.

How do you escalate that?

What do or I should say, what do you do in your opinion to deal with that?

To make it stop school's done what the school's gonna do, five day

suspension, whatever, neighborhood kids.

Right.

What do you do then?

Man, I'll tell you what I would do as a, um, as a, as a, as a privileged person,

as I would go to a different school.

I mean, that's the first thing I would do at that point.

If I, if I saw, if I felt that my kid was in any kind of physical danger.

Right.

Physical danger and the school wasn't doing anything to stop it.

And I felt like it was a matter of time before things escalated to a point where

I thought my kid was gonna get hurt.

Nope.

We're done.

We're out.

I'm not putting my, I'm not sending my kid what's not school though?

What if it's into danger?

What's neighborhood's

man?

Uh, I think that you try to switch up your routines and you put your kids

in programs to take them away from the, the, the dangerous situation.

Um, I've always felt like.

Having a, like a fully packed schedule when you're a kid, uh, keeps them from

like, I I, because when, when they, when they have free time when you're a kid,

that is when trouble comes along, right?

It's when the kids that like don't have stuff to do, always find

trouble to get into, uh, when you have a fully packed schedule.

When you're going straight from school to music, to drama, to football, to

baseball, to whatever class to eat, whatever religious school, whatever it

is, when you're going from one to the next and whatever, and then you go home and

you have dinner, and then you go to bed.

It's hard to get into trouble when you like, you know,

every minute's accounted for.

I know you need a break every now and then.

Like it's, it's hard to just, you know, wander off into trouble that when,

when you have stuff like that, right?

It's when you have school and then school's done, and then you like

have a couple hours where you're unaccounted for and you can just find

trouble that you find trouble, right?

Especially when you're 13, 14, 15 years old.

Think about it.

Well, I think, I think we're getting close to an end here, but let's remember

one in five kids is bullied out there.

So I think, you know, it's great that we're continuing to talk

about it, especially in the disability community 'cause we

have all witnessed it growing up.

I think so I think, you know, it's great that we're talking about it.

And, you know, looking to continue to help parents talk about it, you know?

'cause I think it's important just like we see with racism, it's

taught at home and, you know, so how do we get people to really, um,

just create awareness around it?

And I think, um, we're doing what we need to do on our side to, to raise awareness.

'cause it is important, especially in our, uh, community where we see kids with

disabilities definitely being, uh, bullied because of, uh, their physical appearance.

I will tell you, don't mess with the parents of a kid with disabilities.

'cause it's just a little, little different.

Yeah.

It also helps that, um, I'm friends with a lot of MMA fighters

man, so don't mess with my kids.

Please don't.

Anyway.

Alright, that's good.

Her here for us at trip.

A pipe purpose.

We're gonna,

we're gonna not incriminate ourselves in the,

for the end of this.

Yeah.

Hey man, I worked for the UFC for a little while, man.

You make friends with people.

Who you know.

Sometimes though, how to put you out.

Yeah, they can do.

That's all I'm saying.

Alright.

Anyway, let's get, do it for us here.

See, driven by purpose.

Sorry.

Sorry.

Calm it down.

Uh, remember if you like, you wanna support, uh, like, follow, subscribe,

tell a friend, leave a comment.

All that good stuff.

And we will see you next time.

See you, everyone Good talking to you.

Don't, don't bully kids.

Don't bully kids.

Don't do it.