Kids being bullied at school is a major problem of our educational system today and one that isn’t going away anytime soon. Daniel Thigpen, a 2nd grader at Penderlea Elementary school in Pender Country, North Carolina, was the victim of school bullies when he dressed up as sheriff’s deputy.
Daniel was looking forward to dressing up as a sheriff for career day but got bullied for wearing the uniform
What promised to be an exciting career day took a turn when Daniel was targeted by his classmates for dressing up as sheriff’s deputy. Daniel’s mother, Lizzie Williamson, a dispatcher at the Pender County 911 Communications Center, shared what happened next in a Facebook post.
“I have a bunch of friends who are in law enforcement and he looks up to a lot of them and he looked at me not too long ago and was like ‘that’s what I want to do when I grow up’ and I thought that was great,” said Williamson.
‘Not good enough’ to wear the uniform
Daniel’s classmates told him he wasn’t ‘good enough’ and he went home disappointed and told his mom what happened at school.
“I was disappointed that somebody would belittle somebody because they were wanting to be a law enforcement officer, but not just any law enforcement officer, but a deputy sheriff with Pender County,” said Lt. James Cotten with the Pender County Sheriff’s Office.
Lt. Cotten was resolved to do something nice for Daniel, so he spoke with the other deputies and an officer with the Burgaw Police Department and they made plans to surprise Daniel.
The deputies’ act of kindness put a smile back on Daniel’s face
The surprise meant so much to Daniel that he couldn’t stop grinning as six deputies and the officer escorted him to school.
“His demeanor just turned from being a little boy not wanting to go to school, to very ecstatic and happy,” said Lt. Cotten. “I mean the grin on his face… I swear it was from ear to ear. You could see all his teeth when he grinned.”
Daniel’s mom admitted that she was very emotional when she first found out about the surprise. In the meantime, she encouraged Daniel not to give up on his dreams. Daniel still intends to be a deputy, despite the bullying he suffered at the hands of his classmates.
“I could not be more thankful for such an awesome group of people,” she wrote. “I absolutely love working with them and am honored to know such amazing people,” Lizzie wrote in a Facebook post.
Thanks to the deputies, Daniel got his confidence back
With the bullying episode now behind him, Daniel is free to pursue his goal and become the sheriff’s deputy one day. Thanks to the deputies, Daniel felt like the ‘King of the world’. He will remember the day when six deputies and an officer escorted him to school and walked him to class for a long time to come.
Source: Lizzie Williamson
