Last night I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and came across a video of a 16-year-old deaf boy that got his backpack thrown in the toilet by bullies. While I was watching this video I could not hold back the tears in my eyes. They were tears of a broken heart but also tears of anger.

The fact that bullies that actually physically hurt kids still exist baffles me. In my brain, most bullying is done over social media or through text. Sadly, both kinds of bullies are still around and actively hurting people.

When I think of bullies physically beating up kids or throwing their backpacks in toilets I think of the old movies. I think of times in the past that are gone and seem foreign to me. But they are still here. What would bring someone to want to throw a backpack in a toilet with all of his stuff in it baffles me. His notebooks, homework, tablet, debit card, and cochlear implant that he needs to hear, all destroyed.

I think it’s crazy the different kinds of hearts the world has. On one end there are people that are just straight up mean. But thank God there are also good people to step up and spread some joy. Thankfully, his teachers replaced some of his notebooks but his classmates took it a step further and made him a go fund me page and they raised over $800 in just three days.

I think it is so beyond awesome that his classmates stood up for him and decided that they were not going to be bystanders.

But speaking of good hearts, 16-year-old, Alex Hernandez, talking about his bullies said, “I just want them to learn to do the right thing.” Wow. What a kind of love that is. Instead of saying he hates them and wants to get revenge, his wish for them is that they learn how to be nice people so they won’t do things like that to other students anymore.

Thankfully, his high school is taking initiative and investigating the event. Hopefully they can come up with a well-deserved punishment and a way to avoid future bullying incidents like the one that happened to Hernandez.

I have never understood what drives people to be mean. Just down right mean. I truly believe that we were not created evil and everyone believes they are the good guy, but somewhere along the way something happened to those bullies to make them think that it would be funny or a smart idea to attack another student like that. I think it’s our job as decent human beings in society to teach others around us that they don’t have to be jerks. Sadly, for some people that is going to be really hard because that is just how they are wired and we will work extra hard with them. What if every single human being asked themselves, “Hey is this nice?” before they acted? Well then there would be no bullies right? I don’t know, I could be wrong, but why don’t we all try it out and let’s see where it gets us.