By SHAUNA ANDERSON
It’s almost unthinkable that anyone thought this would be funny.
An autistic teenager in the US thought he was taking part in the Ice Bucket Challenge that has gone viral on social media raising awareness for ALS/ MND.
He thought he was taking part in something meaningful.
Something fun and lighthearted.
What happened was deplorable.
The teenager from Ohio was tricked into having faeces, urine, cigarette butts and spit dumped on him. His horrified mother found the video on his phone.
His mother told WJLA that he was embarrassed and didn’t want to tell anyone after the incident.
According to ABC 5 in Cleveland the bullies made the 14-year old boy strip naked and filmed the incident.
And then in a display of disgusting human behaviour they uploaded and shared it to Instagram.
The sickening video is still available on YouTube but we have chosen not to share it or show images from it. We don’t believe videos like this deserve any views, any airtime or any publicity.
What they do deserve though is exactly what comedian Drew Carey is calling for – retribution.
The US comedian saw the video and tweeted.
He then went a step further and offered $10,000 to anyone who could find the perpetrators.
He was quickly followed by other celebrities.
Jenny McCarthy matched his $10,000 and then her husband Donnie Wahlberg went on Twitter to say that he too would add to the reward, increasing the total to $30,000.
Wahlberg referred to the incident as a “‘shitty prank.”
TV personality Montel Williams voiced his support too, writing on Facebook that the parents of these teenagers need to take responsibility as well.
“Teach your children well. Quite frankly, the parents of the kids who did this ought to go to jail too.”
He pledged a “significant contribution” towards the reward fund. “Drew is a great guy — I wldnt have known if it wasn’t for him,” Williams wrote.
The local police department have released a statement saying they are working with the high school to bring forth charges to the students involved.
Meanwhile the REAL ALS/ MND challenge has received over $110.5 million in Ice Bucket Challenge donations.
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Top Comments
As a parent of a child on the spectrum, stomach-churning real-life stories like this one frighten the hell out of me. ASD kids are so trusting and can't read social cues as well as neurotypical people. They are much more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators. It makes you so scared for your child's future.
There was also the story of the autistic kid who fell off a bridge whilst bullied and is unlikely to ever walk again. This pains me to the core. Story at http://www.walesonline.co.u...
I had the exact same reaction to both stories, my ten year old ASD son is on the cusp of high school and I am petrified for him. These poor kids are already so disadvantaged by their place on the spectrum. I want to tear the perpretrators limb from limb and then go after their parents. There but for the grace of god, people.
I read about thing like this and think "What the fuck is going on in those kids heads?!"
What have they gone through in life to think this is ok?
I don't know, Maggie, but maybe those kids have not gone through anything in life that would make them do this. Kids can be really nasty little buggers, cruel, sadistic and ruthless. And they come from all forms of society, all 'classes' (if one still uses that term) and nations. I'm really not shocked by anything children do, or say, to each other. Just sad.