Father Takes Girl Bullied By His Daughter On A Shopping Spree

Randy Smalls, father-of-three, discovered that his daughter and her friends had been making fun of a classmate of theirs.

Apparently, the girls had been laughing at their classmate's clothes.

Smalls told Yahoo that he explained to his daughter that even laughing along is a form of bullying. "I say, 'When you laugh along, you're co-signing the bullying.'"

He revealed that he had been bullied as a child, which meant he truly empathized with the young girl who had been teased.

As it turned out, Smalls and the victim's mother knew each other, but the pair were unaware of the trouble.

His plan was to invite her daughter to a day out to get some new clothes — with money he had been planning on spending on his daughter.

"I wanted to help Ryan so she wouldn’t have this issue anymore," Smalls explained.

As he said, "My daughter was upset, especially because she is into fashion. So, she came with us and helped pick out Ryan's new clothes."

Smalls treated Ryan to a day at a salon where she got a makeover and her hair done.

As he said, "We got her hair done and we’ll be paying for twice-a-month appointments until the end of the year."

Alongside the image, Smalls wrote:

"Y'all meet my new friend Ryan. This is how I met her. My daughter and a few of her classmates thought it was fun or funny to pick on Ryan last week. Ryan's mom reached out to me about my daughter's actions towards Ryan and we became friends just that fast. They picked on her because of how she dressed, her shoes and hair.

"So being that I DON'T like bullying, I decided to take my daughter's money and took Ryan shopping and to get her hair done so my daughter and her fellow classmates will not have anything to pick on Ryan about again. Matter fact every time Reonna gets her hair done Ryan will too."

Richauna, Ryan's mother had been struggling with various deaths in their family, including her father, aunt, and grandfather. However, apparently the shopping spree helped to cheer up young Ryan.

Richauna expressed her thanks to Smalls for his actions, saying, "This is the first time I have seen a parent take such a stance on bullying" to Yahoo.

As a result of the traction his and Ryan's story received, according to WSFA, Smalls has been working to start a movement called Parents Against Bullying. He is apparently also working closely with Berkeley County Beats Bullying and Communities Against Violence Everywhere.

Smalls' post about Ryan and her makeover has since gained over 6,000 likes and over 2,000 shares.

Those who heard about the story have written such positive things as:

"A tremendous lesson to both children and adults! God bless you!"

"Great job. And I pray that they become friends and others learn from that."

Thankfully the pair have apparently put their differences behind them now, which would suggest that Smalls' lesson has paid off.

Hopefully, this positive message of kindness will inspire other parents in similarly difficult situations.

h/t: Yahoo & WSFA