Recently, the video of a 9-year-old Australian boy crying inconsolably for being bullied by classmates made headlines. Following this, another case of bullying where juniors were forced to eat human faeces by seniors in an Indonesian high school came to light. Despite several awareness programs, the cases of bullying come up time and again. This time, it’s from the UK.
Callum Manning, a 13-year-old high school student is fond of reading. He shares his thoughts and book reviews on his Instagram account. But instead of appreciation, he was allegedly trolled and constantly bullied by his classmates. They called him ‘sad weirdo’ for being an avid reader, reports IE.
Recently, he was also added to a group chat by his classmates who humiliated him further for being a ‘bookworm’.
His elder sister Ellis shared the screenshot of the trolling and called out the bullies on social media. Her post soon went viral and garnered support from people and authors all over the world.
https://twitter.com/EllisLandreth1/status/1233700851925082113?s=20
Some popular authors like Neil Gaiman and Matt Haig also came forward to lend their support to Callum.
Sending Callum some books. pic.twitter.com/lGuxr4MnHm
— Matt Haig (@matthaig1) March 2, 2020
I think the love from all around the world has probably let him know he isn't alone. But all the interesting people I know were once considered weird kids with books. Including me.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) March 2, 2020
It is devastating and I would very much like to send Cal some books.
— Caroline Kepnes (@CarolineKepnes) March 1, 2020
Hi Cal, I'm not on Insta but if you'd like any of books let me know and I'll happily send you a signed copy.
— David Nicholls (@DavidNWriter) March 1, 2020
Followed!
— Aunty Malorie Blackman (@malorieblackman) March 1, 2020
Hey, I'll defo send a book to Cal, my DMs are open, no one should be abused in this way for doing the thing they love #BeKindAlways
— Giles Paley-Phillips (@eliistender10) March 1, 2020
I’d love to send Cal some books. @EllisLandreth1 and if his school has a library I’d also like to donate some books to the school in his name.
— Christopher Golden (@ChristophGolden) March 1, 2020
Cal is a total legend! I have the feeling he’s now discovering just how cool most of the world thinks he is. Books rock!
— Prof Ben Garrod (@Ben_garrod) March 1, 2020
Happy to send Cal three books of his choice.
Just DM me the name and address to post 'em to and the three titles.
I'll post them off asap.— Big Green Bookshop (@Biggreenbooks) March 1, 2020
Books are what dreams are made of. We'd like to add to Cal's collection too – if you send us a mailing address we'll pop some in the post 🙂 https://t.co/ZVTkVcYPEw
— Pan Macmillan (@panmacmillan) March 1, 2020
It's so wonderful Cal is sharing his love of reading. It's also great to see Romeo & Juliet is one of his favourite Shakespeare plays, it's one of ours too!
We'd love to offer Cal tickets to Romeo & Juliet this summer, let us know if you'd like to visit 🎭https://t.co/1fNwgvsMlx
— Shakespeare's Globe (@The_Globe) March 2, 2020
“I think the love from all around the world has probably let him know he isn’t alone. But all the interesting people I know were once considered weird kids with books. Including me,” Neil wrote in the comments. In fact, author Matt Haig also sent him many signed copies of his books.
Here are the messages sent by authors and people around the world to Callum:
“All I was expecting was a few of my followers to show him some encouragement and support, and that he wasn’t ‘weird’ or ‘sad’ for preferring to read,” Callum’s sister Ellis told CNN. Apart from support, Callum also gained thousands of followers on Instagram following the incident. Ellis said that Callum’s bullies were jealous looking all the limelight he was getting.
Carla Landreth, Callum’s mother shared that he was ‘devastated’ by the bullying but the positive comments are making him feel good. “It has made him feel so good, and sends out a really strong, anti-bullying message – a case of who’s getting the last laugh now,” she told BBC.
It’s good to see how social media is proving helpful in lifting the spirits of kids who have been bullied. Keep up the good work!