I came across this story on my Facebook feed, and it really upset me. A 12-year-old boy with special needs was being punched repeatedly in the bathroom by some kids who are supposed to be his friends. In another video, the same boy was punched and kicked by other kids, including a female.

The parents have spoken out about this and are focusing on awareness and forgiveness. They’re asking people not to cyberbully the kids and to remember that they’re children with their whole lives ahead of them.

I respect their views, but I’m not as forgiving. Those kids behaved terribly. I’m not in favor of threats or harassment of any kind, but let’s not pretend they didn’t know what they were doing. This kind of behavior is wrong.

Rayden is physically a big boy, so thankfully he hasn’t been seriously hurt, but that doesn’t make it okay. He was writing on his arm things like “I want to die,” which shows how much this has affected him.

I hate bullying. I’ve hated it my whole life. I faced it growing up, so I’m a bit jaded about situations like this one. I’m not looking to raise kids in bubbles. I know kids can make poor choices sometimes. But going around and punching a kid like this deserves serious consequences.

I’m glad these kids were careless enough to record it, because otherwise no one might have known and it could have continued. I hope they’ve learned something from this, though I do have my doubts.