+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
More

A heartbreaking video about bullying gets a heartwarming response from the Yankees.

These guys came through for her in a big way.

Cassidy Warner is 10 years old, and like many youngsters, experiences bullying at her school.

She shared her story — all too relatable to anyone who's been made to feel unwelcome for who they are — in a powerful video on Facebook. In it, she holds up a series of papers with handwritten messages for the world.

As requested, everyone wanted me to repost... This is a video my daughter Cassidy posted orginally from her own Facebook page, her caption said " please everyone help share my story about being bullied not only for me but for everyone" Her story reached 22k views before the Scranton School Dirstict contacted Facebook and her facebook got shut down because she's not 13 and of age to have a facebooK. She was threatened by the principal to remove the video or he was going to report it and he was successful. But this does not stop here, I will be my daughters voice I will share her story and I hope others will share too, this Isn't about the shares or views or if it goes viral its about spreading awareness although seeing that smile on Cassidy's face each time the number of views and shares got larger that was everything. Shes upset she has to start all over but let's do this for her....please share her story let's put that smile back on her face!!!

Posted by Jenn Slater on Wednesday, April 4, 2018
"My name is Cassidy. I am 10 years old. I go to John Adams Elementary School. I am in 4th grade. I started getting bullied in 1st grade. One day during recess a group of kids grabbed my purse off of a teacher, and spit on it and me. The group of kids always come up to me during recess, trying to fight me. They hit me, kicked me, pulled my hair, pushed me, stepped on me, spit on me… Kids don’t even want to go near me. Wherever I sit at the lunch table, the kids get up. They threaten to kill me, 2nd they tell me to kill myself. They also spilt milk all over my jacket. They also call me names. There’s four of them and only 1 of me. The principal doesn’t do anything. I feel so alone, I feel like I have no one. It hurts. This is my story… Stop bullying! Not just for me, for other kids, to[o]. Please share my story! Thank you for watching!"

Cassidy's video was deleted from Facebook, but her mom, Jenn Slater, then uploaded it to her own personal page. Since then, Cassidy has appeared on CNN to share her anti-bullying message and even got a warm note from actor Hugh Jackman urging her to "never stop asking for help."

Nearly two weeks later, Cassidy got another big message of support from a very unexpected group of people: the New York Yankees.

In a video posted to the team's Twitter account, the Yankees responded to Cassidy's story with a series of handwritten notes of their own. Many of the team's stars, such as Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and CC Sabathia took part in the heartwarming video.

"Dear Cassidy. My name is CC Sabathia and I play baseball for the New York Yankees. My teammates and I wanted you to know that we care about you. We know sharing your story must have been difficult, but you showed courage and strength, and inspired us to reach out to you. We may be older than you, we may be taller than you, but we want you to know that we look up to you. You are not alone! Count the New York Yankees among your friends! You can sit next to us at lunch any time!!! In fact, we are saving a seat for you at our lunch table in the clubhouse. Bullying is wrong. We won’t stand for it! No one should ever be made to feel bad about who they are. We need to care for each other. There are 25 of us on this team and we all got your back. See you soon!"

Like Cassidy said, this is about more than just her; it's about all bullying.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 28% of students in grades 6-12 experience bullying, and more than 70% of students have witnessed it.

HHS has a comprehensive guide for parents to help teach their kids about bullying (and how to prevent it) on its website. Its tips include educating kids about what bullying is, making this an ongoing dialogue, encouraging kids to engage in hobbies, and instilling in them the values of kindness and respect.

Badge
P&G
Proctor and Gamble
Joy

Know someone doing major good in the world? Share their story and win $1,000 for charity with Upworthy & P&G’s #ActsOfGood Awards

Do good. Win big for the charity of your choice.

True

In a flurry of heavy headlines that constantly inundate our feeds, acts of good connect us back to our faith in humanity. Witnessing just one person go out of their way to make the world a better place is a powerful healing salve against apathy. It reminds us all of what we are collectively capable of creating. This is the philosophy that Upworthy wholeheartedly believes in, hence why we’re always sharing uplifting stories of people giving kindness, generosity and support to their fellow humans.

That’s also why we’re partnering with P&G, the maker of some of our favorite household products like Tide, Always and Pampers, to bring you the 2023 Acts of Good Awards, and celebrate the individuals who are giving back and strengthening their communities.

Think of it like the Oscars of kindness. Half as formal but twice as feel-good.

Besides providing the world with brands we know and trust, P&G is a company doing good acts, whether it’s supporting hygiene education, helping struggling communities gain access to basic necessities or delivering essentials for families impacted by disasters.

Keep ReadingShow less
acts of good
Joy

18-year-old took her college savings and bought the restaurant where she was a dishwasher

Samantha Frye, the newest owner of Rosalie's restaurant, is proving there's more than one way to invest in your future.

Canva

There are many way to invest in your future

Eighteen year old Samantha Frye has traded college life for entrepreneurship, and she has no regrets.

Frye began working at Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg, Ohio at 16 as a dishwasher, working up the ranks as a kitchen prep, server, then line cook. All while working a second job, sometimes third job.

After graduating high school, Frye started college at Ohio State with plans of studying business or environmental engineering. But when she came back to work a shift at Rosalie’s for winter break, an opportunity arose—the owners had planned to sell the restaurant.
Keep ReadingShow less
college
Badge
Acuvue
Acuvue
Sponsored

ACUVUE launches a new campaign to inspire Gen Z to put down their phones and follow their vision

What will you create on your social media break? Share it at #MyVisionMySight.

True

If you’ve always lived in a world with social media, it can be tough to truly understand how it affects your life. One of the best ways to grasp its impact is to take a break to see what life is like without being tethered to your phone and distracted by a constant stream of notifications.

Knowing when to disconnect is becoming increasingly important as younger people are becoming aware of the adverse effects screen time can have on their eyes. According to Eyesafe Nielsen, adults are now spending 13-plus hours a day on their digital devices, a 35% increase from 2019.1. Many of us now spend more time staring at screens on a given day than we do sleeping which can impact our eye health.

Normally, you blink around 15 times per minute, however, focusing your eyes on computer screens or other digital displays have been shown to reduce your blink rate by up to 60%.2 Reduced blinking can destabilize your eyes’ tear film, causing dry, tired eyes and blurred vision.3

Keep ReadingShow less
social media
Pop Culture

Don't listen to the critics—Disney's new 'Little Mermaid' brings its own kind of magic

Finally, a live-action remake that breaks out of its shell in a cool way. The haters are just Poor, Unfortunate Souls.

GIPHY

You'll want to be part of this world.

Look, like many, I have utterly loathed Disney’s live-action remakes. In my opinion, they have either been a lazy, frame-by-frame rehashing of what we already know (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Lion King”) or the original essence is lost in trying to be cutting edge or topical (“Mulan”). Either way, audiences young and old are robbed of that special feeling promised by the Disney brand. Instead, we’re left wondering if we’ll ever have that feeling again.

This is, sadly, exactly what I expected for Disney’s live-action remake of 1989’s “The Little Mermaid.” To be more specific, I expected to get a wondrous performance by Halle Bailey as Ariel, which would ultimately be drowned out by mediocre storytelling.

And honestly, why shouldn’t I? Even before the movie premiered, there have been some questionable choices, such as changes to the song lyrics (not inherently bad, IMO, but would lead me to wonder if the songs themselves were dulled in some way), and having the animal characters like Sebastion and Flounder look like they belong in National Geographic…which I guess is still technically Disney nowadays but just ain’t right, ya know?

Headlines that have rolled in since the premiere, cleverly calling the film a “shallow,” “not bad…but not good,” and “poor unfortunate remake” certainly didn’t lessen my skepticism. All that to say, I went in thinking I’d come out completely unchanged, unmoved and unimpressed.

Boy, was I pleasantly surprised.

(Avast! Mild spoilers ahead, though I was purposely cryptic throughout.)

Keep ReadingShow less
disney
Pop Culture

Man's 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' lifeline call to dad is still thrilling 24 years later

This might be the greatest game show moment ever.

@Steve_Perrault/Twitter

Some moments never get old.

On November 19, 1999, a man named John Carpenter made game show history and quite possibly gave us all the greatest game show moment of all time.

Carpenter was a contestant on the very first season of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” shot in America. Hosted by the late Regis Philbin, the quiz show featured three "lifeline" options to help them with difficult questions, the most popular being able to “Phone-a-Friend.”

Carpenter had impressively not used a single lifeline for any of his questions. That is, until question 15. The million-dollar question, to be exact.

Keep ReadingShow less
video
Pop Culture

Beyoncé fan shows off dance moves so impressive that people want him on the 'Renaissance' tour

Concertgoers got a show before Queen Bey even hit the stage.

@frankieduncan76/TikTok

He slayed.

Since May 10, 2023, Beyoncé’s "Renaissance" tour has been in full swing. And with a performer known for her show-stopping dance routines, you can bet that many loyal fans have picked up a move or two and plan to bust them out during a concert.

But one fan with some seriously next-level dance skills seems to be on par with Queen Bey herself. People are so enamored with his choreography that they are calling for him to become an actual tour performer.


A viral video shows the mysterious dancer unofficially warming up the crowd at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland, before Beyoncé was set to arrive, bringing audiences to life with his enthusiastic strutting, spinning and sashaying across the stage.
Keep ReadingShow less
viral
Pop Culture

A moving supercut of 44 of the 'Most Beautiful Shots in Animation History' set perfectly to Chopin

The stunning clips fit seamlessly with the music.

via Sugar/YouTube

Scenes from "The Lion King," "Toy Story 3" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas"

When we talk about beautiful images from the history of cinema, people often bring up the groundbreaking cinematography in Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane,” the spectacle of David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” or the majesty of Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon.” But unfortunately, animated films are often overlooked in the conversation.

A YouTube creator named Sugar decided to give animated films their due, so they edited together what they consider to be the “Some of the Most Beautiful Shots in Animation History” and set them perfectly to Chopin's "Fantaisie Impromptu, Op. 66."

Chopin’s piece was composed in 1834 but only became known after the composer died in 1849.

Keep ReadingShow less
animation
Pop Culture

Mom gives her daughter's pink nursery a delightfully goth 'Wednesday Addams' makeover

"Love when parents support their kid's interest," one stunned viewer wrote.

@nicola__marie/TikTok

Even Wednesday would smile at this.

Some crafty parents really get a kick out of going all out to decorate their kid’s room. During the toddler years, this might be much easier. Some fluffy clouds painted here, a creative stuffed animal display there, throw a cutesy cartoon painting on the wall and call it a day.

But when that kid gets older and starts developing their own distinct personality, well, that’s another kettle of fish. Now you have outside input based on your child’s new tastes, never knowing if those tastes will last a few years or a few weeks. And often, it’s a complete departure from what was previously established.

Case in point: this mom who turned her daughter’s whimsical pink bedroom into an all-black goth girl fantasy in honor of the 6-year-old’s newfound obsession with Wednesday Addams.
Keep ReadingShow less
parents
Trending Stories