12-year-old Brody Ridder has suffered from being bullied at school, and when it came to getting his yearbook signed, he returned home from school with signatures only from 2 teachers and 2 students.
“Hope you make some new friends.” Ridder wrote to himself in his yearbook.
Cassandra Ridder, Brody’s mom, told NPR that her son wrote that message to himself because he has been bullied for months at school.
“My poor son. Doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better. 2 teachers and a total of 2 students wrote in his yearbook. Despite Brody asking all kinds of kids to sign it. So Brody took it upon himself to write to himself. My heart is shattered, teach your kids kindness.” she said
Cassandra posted her son’s situation on Facebook. Friends, teachers, students, and even celebrities reached out to her and gave Brody support. Paul Rudd, who plays Ant-Man, face-timed Brody and even wrote him a custom hand-written message as well as gave him a signed Ant-Man helmet.
“It’s important to remember that even when life is tough that things get better,” read the message from Rudd. “There are so many people that love you and think you’re the coolest kid there is – me being one of them!”
When Brody returned to school, older students from his school visited him to sign his yearbook. The Broadway cast of “Dear Evan Hansen” also invited him to see the show and told him to bring his yearbook.
Since then, Cassandra and Brody formed The UGLI Foundation. “UGLI” stands for Unique, Gifted, Loved, and Individual. The foundation works on raising awareness and education about bullying.
Sources:
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/07/11/brody-ridder-paul-rudd-ant-man-westminster/
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/10/1110672032/paul-rudd-hero-bullying-colorado-boy-yearbook
“Hope you make some new friends.” Ridder wrote to himself in his yearbook.
Cassandra Ridder, Brody’s mom, told NPR that her son wrote that message to himself because he has been bullied for months at school.
“My poor son. Doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better. 2 teachers and a total of 2 students wrote in his yearbook. Despite Brody asking all kinds of kids to sign it. So Brody took it upon himself to write to himself. My heart is shattered, teach your kids kindness.” she said
Cassandra posted her son’s situation on Facebook. Friends, teachers, students, and even celebrities reached out to her and gave Brody support. Paul Rudd, who plays Ant-Man, face-timed Brody and even wrote him a custom hand-written message as well as gave him a signed Ant-Man helmet.
“It’s important to remember that even when life is tough that things get better,” read the message from Rudd. “There are so many people that love you and think you’re the coolest kid there is – me being one of them!”
When Brody returned to school, older students from his school visited him to sign his yearbook. The Broadway cast of “Dear Evan Hansen” also invited him to see the show and told him to bring his yearbook.
Since then, Cassandra and Brody formed The UGLI Foundation. “UGLI” stands for Unique, Gifted, Loved, and Individual. The foundation works on raising awareness and education about bullying.
Sources:
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/07/11/brody-ridder-paul-rudd-ant-man-westminster/
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/10/1110672032/paul-rudd-hero-bullying-colorado-boy-yearbook
