It started as a heartbreaking video shared on social media but has now turned into a beautiful example of people coming together to support the young East Tennessee based student, Keaton Jones. Keaton's mother Kimberly posted the now viral video on Facebook after picking her son up from school because he was too afraid to eat lunch due to being bullied by other students.

"For the record, Keaton asked to do this AFTER he had he me pick him up AGAIN because he was afraid to go to lunch. My kids are by no stretch perfect, & at home, he's as all boy as they come, but by all accounts he's good at school. Talk to your kids. I've even had friends of mine tell me they're kids were only nice to him to get him to mess with people. We all know how it feels to want to belong, but only a select few know how it really feels not to belong anywhere."

In the video Keaton can be seen crying and saying to his mother, "people that are different don't need to be criticized about it, it's not their fault." and "but if you are made fun of just don't let it bother you...it's hard, but it'll probably get better one day."

Wise words from such a clearly strong and intelligent young man have now been heard by millions on social media and some of those millions have started reaching out to take action.

The first group of people to ignite this fire were those closest to home, residents and athletes of the state of Tennessee. Delanie Walker, tight end for The Tennessee Titans, posted a video on Twitter giving Keaton encouragement through a poem and even offered him and his family tickets to the December 31 game in Nashville where the Titans will face Jacksonville.

University of Tennessee wide receiver, Tyler Byrd, tweeted that he planned to bring some friends and visit Keaton's school to show him so love and would do a live post on Twitter when it happened. It appears this is a common idea already taking place, Jarrett Guarantano, quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers posted a photo of his meetup with Keaton on twitter.

Since these first large notable examples of support, there has been an out-pour of more just like them that have reached far outside Tennessee's borders.

Some of the most notable happenings have included Chris Evans, star of the Captain America and Avengers films. inviting the young student to the Avengers premiere in Los Angeles next year and the entire UFC organization including president Dana White, sending out messages of support, offering "bodyguard services" or just to meet up at UFC headquarters.

Keaton's mother and older sister have made follow up posts thanking everyone for the love and support and apologizing for not being able to respond or see all the messages right away because there are just way too many. The hashtag #StandWithKeaton began trending on Twitter and is still gaining traction with every passing moment.

Aside from all the supportive messages, they've been receiving the family now has means to make Keaton's future even brighter. A GoFundMe campaign started by Joseph Lam to give the family a start on private school or college tuition has exceeded it's original $20,000 goal.

There was even a $2,000 donation from comedian and actor Patton Oswalt. What started as one sad day for this young man has now turned into arguably one of the best and most memorable, and best of all the bullies didn't win this time.

Keaton's story has a happy ending but not all of them do. Yes, bullying is more prevalent than this one publicized incident and there is more we could be doing to help our children.

A recent federal study shows that 1 in 5 middle and high school students have admitted to being bullied and less than half the ones who are being bullied are not reporting it.

This can lead to children developing more problems such as depression, anxiety, and maladjustment. Stories like this should serve as a reminder of how important it is to put an end to bullying and to offer more compassion and help to those who have been made victims of it.

To learn more about how YOU can help other victims, please visit this site.