Children should always feel safe, respected, and happy at school, but unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Bullying is a major issue around the world, and sometimes it can have some very major impacts on a child’s development.
Your childhood is supposed to be sacred, but bullies can definitely make it abysmal. Now that teaching is mostly done online, cyberbullying has been on the rise.
6-year-old boy Gage Berger from Salt Lake City, Utah, has been through months of severe bullying, and it has severely hurt his self-esteem.
When the little man started the first grade of school, he was extremely excited and thrilled about it!
However, it didn’t take long before that excitement slowly but surely faded away, because some of his classmates couldn’t stop making fun of him, bullying him because he had protruding ears.
It wasn’t just a one-time thing either, they constantly teased him and Gage started to hate going to school.
Gage became extremely self-conscious of himself because they kept on calling him names such as “elf ears”.
His parents couldn’t take it anymore.
Understandably, they were completely heartbroken to learn that their beloved son was simply bullied because of the way he looked.
“He just gets really down on himself and he thinks he’s not good enough,” Gage’s mom said to Inside Edition.
Every time he came back home from school, he’d tell his parents that he wished to look different.
Mom and dad recall how their boy would spend hours in front of the mirror while pushing back his ears to the side.
Even though there was nothing wrong with the little boy, and his parents kept assuring him that, they also knew that it negatively affecting his mental health. Furthermore, it didn’t look like the school actually reprimanded the bullies, so it went on and on.
The boy desperately wanted to make his ears less protruding, and his parents agreed to consult with a plastic surgeon.
Dr. Steven Mobley was able to assure little Gage that a relatively simple surgery would be able to push back his ears. His parents knew how much stress and trouble it gave him, so they all decided to go through with it.
Getting surgery at such a young age is definitely a stressful event, but his mom and dad were there to support him every step of the way.
The procedure went well, and the smile on Gage’s face definitely said more than a thousand words.
He couldn’t wait to how he looked with his new ears and was simply overjoyed when he saw himself in the mirror. “Oh my gosh!” he said with a huge smile.
Right away, it seemed as if Gage was a lot more confident, and his personality just shined and opened up. No longer would he have to worry about being called names at school, and it finally seemed like he was happy with himself again.
Even though you can definitely tell that Gage has new ears in the before and after pics, the smile on his face is actually the biggest difference.
You can check out Gage’s story and transformation in the video below.
The footage was taken before the coronavirus pandemic, which is why you won’t see any masks or social distancing.
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