‘Don’t hurt me!’: Virginia student bullies 5-year-old, records himself harassing the preschooler as everyone laughs at his cries for help

When Ashley and Sean moved from China to Loudoun County, Virginia, they didn’t make the decision lightly. They chose the location of their new residence based on what they learned about the good neighbourhood and the best schools. Little did they know that they would be exposing their five-year-old son to racism, bullying, and harassment.

The couple came to know about what their child was going through when the video of a middle schooler bullying him (recorded by the student himself) was shared in a chat group with students of Eagle Ridge Middle School. When a parent from the community saw the heartwrenching video, they tracked down the little boy’s parents and shared what their son was being made to suffer, according to WRC.

In the video, the middle school student is not visible since he is making the video, but he is heard repeating a slur (rhymes with “King Kong”) while taunting him for acting like he is a “big guy” and the younger child is running, imploring him to stop the harassment while holding out his hands and trying to protect himself by covering his head with his jacket.

“No! Don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me!”

There are other kids around the young child, and he asks them for help, requesting them to save him as he desperately rings the bell of his home, but they only laugh in response. The second the door is opened by his mom, who is unaware of the hell hounding her child, her son runs inside.

“Every time I saw that, my heart’s broken every time,” Ashley shared with WRC. “As a mother, to see my son insulted by other older kids, my son’s only 5 years old. I just don’t know why those kids are so cruel to say that to my son.” What affected her more none of the other kids in the video made any effort to come to his aid and instead laughed at his plight.

“We thought that this would be a great place, however though, it ended up like this,” Sean added. “So, what hurts me most is then, where else should I be? That hurts me most, not just the words.”

What he can’t understand is whether he should protect his son, keep him clueless of the ethnic slurs thrown at him since he doesn’t understand their meaning, or let him know that this is what the world is like.

“Should I keep lying and say, ‘Yes. They’re calling you King Kong because you’re strong’? Or should I try to explain to him what does that word and why they’re saying that to you? It’s hard.”

The incident has been reported to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. Though it did not happen on the grounds of Eagle Ridge, the school’s spokesman, Dan Adams, has assured that they don’t “condone the behavior” and will be resorting to “potentially restorative practices” for the middle schooler. He also added that they have offered Ashley and Sean’s son counseling, even though he is not their student.