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The phrase “kids can be so cruel” is very much true. Gage Berger looked a little different from the other boys and girls. And that was enough for his parents to have to take drastic action.

Every weekday, first-grader Gage Berger dreaded going to school.

He had been looking forward to learning. But when he arrived, the other boys and girls in his class only noticed one thing about him.

Gage’s ears were longer than average.

Naturally, this bullying did terrible things to his mental health. His parents, Tim and Kallie, saw him go from being a happy and confident child to a sad and shy one.

Eventually, Gage began obsessing about his appearance.

He would spend lots of time pushing back his ears in the hopes that he could look like the other kids.

Gage was not shallow. After all, how shallow can a six-year-old be? Instead, he just wanted the bullying to stop.

In the end, Tim and Kallie had no option but to turn to plastic surgery. They wanted the bullying to stop. But Gage’s school was ineffective. If the parents didn’t pay for surgery, the bullying would permanently damage Gage’s self-esteem.

Plastic surgeon Stephen Mobley agreed to meet Gage and his parents.

Naturally, Gage was scared of the operation. So he brought along his favorite cuddly toy, a tiger.

Mobley operated on Gage for a total of two hours. The child was anesthetized, so he didn’t feel a thing.

For two days, Gage had to keep his ears bandaged up. Then the doctor was able to remove the bandages, and Gage saw his new ears for the first time.

Gage was super happy with the results. In fact, he couldn’t stop smiling.

Now Gage goes to school with a similar smile on his face. He is no longer bullied over his appearance.

Gage’s story then appeared on YouTube, where it soon went viral.

To date, it has gained over 6.9 million views. It also has more than 49,000 likes and 10,000 comments. People have been saying things like this:

This story says a lot about the world we live in.

Yes, it’s good that Gage was happy in the end. But it’s so sad that the kids’ parents and the school allowed the kids to bully Gage so badly in the first place.

We should teach our children to accept others and not to make fun of superficial differences.

Sadly, as this story proves, many parents and many school leaders are failing to get this message across.

Yes, it’s hard to be a parent and to be an educator. But surely teaching children to accept one another is one of the most important lessons, if not the most important lesson?

Sadly, it doesn’t look like bullying is going to go away any time soon. In 2019, the National Center for Educational Statistics reported that one in five children are bullied. This should be considered a shockingly high percentage. Sadly, for many, it will not come as a surprise.

Every parent who is failing to prevent their child from bullying others should see Gage’s story and feel ashamed.

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Source: Inside Edition, Pacer