11-Year-Old Michigan Boy Invited To White House For Confronting Cyberbullies On YouTube
A father-son duo wants to take the power away from cyberbullies and now they've got an ally in the White House.
Logan Fairbanks and his dad have been pranking each other on YouTube for years. They've had a few viral video hits, but the clip that shot them onto the world's stage featured Logan singing a Flo Rida song (rather exuberantly) in the shower.
YouTube commenters posted dozens of personally disparaging messages about Logan on that video.
In response, Logan appears in a new video in which he explains how he came up with an idea to encourage others who are the targets of cyberbullying. He asked his dad to record him reading a selection of the comments he'd never seen before including: "I hope that he dies," "He is so ugly and big," and, "I hope he gets cancer."
*** Warning this video contains brief strong language ***
The description of the video posted on his dad's YouTube channel explains how the idea was Logan's and he was hesitant about doing the social experiment.
After reading the comments, Logan reiterating his goals said, "I hope that people don't bully other people online anymore and that this helps." To those who are the victims of online bullies he said, "Don't let these words affect you."
Valerie Jarrett, Senior Adviser to President Barack Obama noticed the video and extended an invite to Logan and his dad on Twitter.
The Fairbanks raised funds for the trip online and plan to visit Jarrett at the White House on July 20.
In a People interview, Josh Fairbanks and his son said they plan to create an anti-bullying foundation called "Take the Power". [This foundation] will encourage victims to take away the power of the words their bullies use to hurt them, as Logan did," Fairbanks said.
Learn more identifying and reporting cyberbullying at stopbullying.gov.
