Texas father treats son’s bully with compassion after discovering his family is homeless

Sometimes a little kindness goes a long way, especially when an adult shows it to a young boy who needs it

Oct 23, 2018

Bullying — Aubrey Fontenot and son Jordan play video games with a homeless boy named Tamarion who was embraced after the man learned why the boy was a bully. (KHOU)

A loving father in Houston, Tex., has gone viral after he choose to let his paternal instincts take over while confronting the boy who had been bullying his child at school.

Last week, Aubrey Fontenot uploaded a video on Twitter that shows him taking his son’s former bully on a drive, in efforts to get to the bottom of what was going on between the two boys. That’s when he discovered what was really going on with the boy, whose name is Tamarion.

As the old saying goes, “hurt people, hurt people,” and Tamarion confessed the he was himself being teased by other kids for wearing dirty clothes to school.

“I asked ‘Who? You’re big, who is picking on you?’ He [Tamarion] said ‘All the other kids, they make fun of me,’” Fontenot told KHOU, recounting their conversation.

Fontenot later called Tamarion’s mother and confirmed that his family had fallen on hard times and was become homeless. At that moment, he says he knew he had to do something and later returned to take the boy on a shopping trip for new clothes and shoes.

‘We have no clue what these children are going thru these days because a lot of us just don’t care,” he posted on Facebook. “And this isn’t a uncommon story for a lot of people, so I spent a lot of my day yesterday by shopping and teaching this young man about self respect. Integrity. Morals. Confidence. And other things that consist of going from a troubled youth to a great man.”

“We all come from different backgrounds but we all share the same goal of success,” he concluded.

https://twitter.com/illuminaubrey_/status/1052629862282874881

The heartwarming video shows the child coming out of the store with newfound confidence, as he and the older man laugh and share warm banter on the way home. And the following day a follow up video was shared of Tamarion and and Fontenot’s son, sitting down to work out their issues.

“Speak your mind, son,” the father encourages in the video. “This is a meeting. We’re having a meeting.”

While the exchange was awkward at first, once the camera was put away they found out they had a lot in common and became fast friends.

The heartening story has been shared thousands of times on social media and a GoFundMe campaign has been launched by Fontenot to help Tamarion and his family move out of the hotel they’re currently staying in.

So far, the page has raised over $24,000 in donations, far exceeding its original goal of $7,000.