CLOSING ARGUMENTS
Mallory’s Army fights back
against bullying
It’s Memorial Day 2017, and our
family is hurrying to have fun in the
sunny days ahead in the forecast. It’s
a race to see who can get set up the
fastest, at our “happy place” in the
Catskills of New York for a fun-filled
weekend of camping.
Little did we know that we were
only three weeks away from the un-
imaginable.
DIANNE AND SETH
Mallory Rose Grossman is a healthy,
GROSSMAN
happy, smart, caring 12-year-old girl
living in Rockaway, New Jersey. She spends her free time tum-
bling on a trampoline, riding her bike and making homemade
crafts to sell at the campground to raise money for Camp Good
Days. Her sister Carlee is who she desires to be “just like,” and
her archenemy when the doors slam because something is
missing from the other’s room. Her parents have been married
for 17 years, and they’re small business owners. Just an everyday
“normal” family. At least that is what it appeared to be from the
outside, and inside as well, if we are being honest.
The end of fifth grade is where it began, a target invisible to
adults but vivid to the children in her school. A target of hate,
exclusion, isolation, humiliation and bullying — this bullseye
leads right to her heart.
In sixth grade the scarlet letter of hate returns, the target
much larger, brighter for the 900-plus kids to see. Like many of
you, we — her parents — assume a “kids will be kids” scenario
and encourage Mallory to ignore the girls who embarrass her
in the halls she’s required to walk. Our hindsight would be very
helpful about now, but it will only show itself at the end of the
school year, when it’s too late.
She endures conflict and isolation, she’s humiliated online in
a space called “social media,” which is far from social for Mal-
lory. It is an electronic, unsupervised platform for the girls who
enjoy watching her panic over what is being said about her. A
stage for making themselves feel larger than life, and Mallory
small and unimportant. It’s the beginning of the end for Mallo-
ry, and for our family.
The end comes three weeks after a fun-filled family weekend