Dad confronts bully by treating him like a son

‘I was angry at first, then I said let me try something different’: Dad confronts bully by treating him like a son

Growing up, you were probably told to confront your bully to end the torment, a move that usually led to a violent altercation. And so, with the understanding that violence only begets violence, one father stepped up to his son’s bully in an unexpected way: by showing him a little kindness.

Houston dad Aubrey Delinzer, who himself was bullied as a child, admitted that initially he was angry to learn that his son Jordan was also being victimized. But then he realized that he needed to try a new approach to break the cycle.

In a video that has since gone viral on Twitter, Delinzer takes his son’s bully, Tamarion, for a ride and asks him, “Why?”

Afterward, Delinzer told KHOU that Tamarion admitted that he was a victim of bullying too. “He said, ‘All the other kids, they make fun of me,’” Delinzer told the outlet. He reached out to teachers to speak about Tamarion and possible bullies, and they implied that there might be turbulence in his home life.

Through a subsequent phone call with Tamarion’s mother, Delinzer realized that the family was having a difficult time making ends meet. According to Delinzer’s tweet, Tamarion and his family were homeless, and the boy was picked on for not having clean clothes and shoes. Delinzer, a tattoo artist, realized that Tamarion needed to be treated like a son — not a bully — so he took him shopping. He lifted Tamarion up and encouraged him to be happy.

Tamarion’s transformation from silent to smiling speaks for itself.

After the shopping trip, Delinzer sat Jordan and Tamarion down across from each other, and for a while there was nothing but awkward silence. Eventually, the two started to speak.

“One kid said one thing, another kid said something. I said we need to settle this stuff like men,” Delinzer said.

Now you can find the two boys playing video games together at Delinzer’s tattoo parlor, a result that has the father identifying as a “first-time mentor.”

Delinzer’s story and the boys’ newfound friendship made the local news, and he couldn’t be prouder of “my boys.”

Delinzer has set up a GoFundMe page for Tamarion and his family. “[These] young kings need us, man, they really do,” he wrote.

What started as a bully-victim dynamic has turned into a friendship, thanks to one man taking the time to listen.

The heartwarming story has been beloved by fellow Twitter users.