Mom calls for change after son beats up bully: 'I’m supposed to be upset with him, but I’m not'

It's never easy being the parent of a child who is constantly bullied by their peers. To see the fear in their eyes, the emotional strain weighing them down, the internal battle between wanting them to stand up for themselves and the uncomfortable idea of having to resort to violence or mental harassment—like the bully—to do so, and know that there's only so much you can do to help them. Despite teaching them that violence is never the answer, when concerned authorities fail to help you child and when even your personal involvement doesn't deter the bully, what is one to do? Do you punish your child when they finally crack and lash out at the bully? Or do you stand by them?

Allison Davis chose to do the latter. In a viral Facebook post about how her son was suspended from school for beating up his bully, the mother-of-two explained why she wasn't upset with him. She wrote: Five days of OSS for beating up the kid that has been tormenting and bullying him since middle school. I know as a parent I’m supposed to be upset with him for resorting to violence or getting suspended, but I’m not. Not even a little bit. For years the school has failed Drew.

When this kid has constantly threatened to beat Drew up along with several of his friends, the school did nothing. When this kid followed Drew down the hall threatening him and making fun of him AND it was all captured on video, the school did nothing, she continued. When other kids told teachers and administrators that this kid was threatening Drew, the school did nothing. When this kid took to social media, voicemails, and texting threats, the school did nothing. When this kid threatened Drew over and over in every class they have together. The school did nothing.

Davis claimed the school never took any sort of action against her son's bully despite multiple complaints. In middle school Drew was afraid to walk down the halls because a swarm of this kid and his minions would make fun of and threaten Drew, she revealed. He quit talking to the adults about it because they never disciplined the bully and it just made the situation worse. I sent the school a lengthy email at the beginning of the year begging them to do something because Drew refused to talk to adults at school about it because he knew it would do him no good. Drew had four classes with this kid and he would not leave Drew alone.

Their solution and response was to have him and his bully sign a no-contact contract. Seriously? I’m pretty sure I rolled my eyes. And, like Drew I gave up on trying to get the school to actually do something that would stop this kid from bullying Drew. So... When this kid threatened Drew (while on the bus) and then moved on to making fun of his Dad and then threatening Jackson, his 11-year-old brother, Drew decided that he would quit relying on the school and the adults who are supposed to protect him and HE would do something, Davis explained.

Three punches and his bully screamed like a baby, his minion friends shut up, and this morning the bully wouldn’t even look at him, she wrote. Davis' post quickly went viral on social media as other parents shared similar stories of their kids being bullied at school and concerned authorities failing to take adequate measures to protect their children. As the incident gained immense attention online, Davis stated in a follow-up post that she was willing to work with her son's school to figure out a way to address the issue.

I’ve been brainstorming nonstop since all of this took off, trying to think of what schools can do to address what is clearly an issue. Hearing all of these comments from people all over that are dealing with bullies, it makes me want to do something, she wrote. I would much rather work with the school than against the school and come up with an appropriate solution to this problem and I’m glad that this post has brought awareness to this issue. Hopefully it can help bring some change to this whole "zero-tolerance bullying policy" because it is not working.