I had the honour of escorting a bullied 12 year old to her end of school formal*.
The first thing you notice about 12 year old Kate is that she's not your usual 12 year old. Being a foot taller** than her classmates is probably just one of the factors that has played a hand in her being the target of school bullies.
Looking like a young Shanina Shaik, the Australian Victoria Secrets model, who was also the target of bullies when she was at school, it goes to show it doesn't matter how pretty you are, haters gonna hate.
Spend five minutes with her and you see a kid who is more mature than her preteen counterparts. But she has such a gentle nature.
Kate wasn't looking forward to, and didn't want to go to her end of school formal. Her mother insisted, and contacted Simon, the guy who introduced me to the Southern Cross Garrison and helped me build my armour to 501st standards. Simon put the word out, and many wanted to come, but due to other commitments they were unable. Can you imagine if there had been 8 stormtroopers and Darth Vader? But we did rustle up 4, which is a nice size for a stormtrooper escort. In the entourage we had Phil TK-19721, Brad TK-83110, Simon TK-7543 and myself, Glen TK-36315.
We got changed in a church hall across the road, and Kate got dressed in her Princess Leia outfit.
After we were fully assembled we had a few photos taken, and then with our buckets (helmets) on, we marched her across the road and to the school hall. Most of the kids, parents and teachers were already there, some were milling around the front making their way in. And they went nuts when they saw us.
We weren't there to confront. We were there for moral support. All the attendees of the school function were in fancy dress. There was one teacher dressed as a stormtrooper. Another as Han Solo. Of course our costumes liked like they just walked off the set of Star Wars. But that doesn't stop us appreciating the time and the enjoyment that others out into their own fancy dress efforts.
Everyone wanted their photo taken with the stormtrooper squad. Best of all they wanted our Princess Leia in the shot. Her costume and hair buns were top notch, thanks to her mother.
We stuck around for about an hour after the grand entrance. Kate wasn't sure how long she'd stick around but told us later that she stayed for the whole night, dancing and having a great time.
A week later we invited Kate to come along to the troop we had at the John Hunter Children's Hospital. There was a piece about it in the Newcastle Herald.
Other photos of the night can also be seen on my Instagram account @imperialcenter
"We should build our lives on the acts of kindness we can do for others. If everyone just put in a little more effort to be nice, can you imagine just how good life could be?" ~TK-36315
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I'm just going to clarify a few points so people outside of Australia will understand, given all the responses I have read on other Facebook Pages and forums.
* For the most part in Australia, school is divided into two levels, particularly for the public school system. When you're between the ages of 5 and 12 it is Kindergarten then years 1 through to 6.
K, 1 and 2 are called Infants and years 3, 4, 5 and 6 are called primary. Then High School is years 7 through to 12. Please note, Kate is 12 years of age and "graduating" year 6. She is not in Year 12 (which would put her at around 17 to 18 years of age). Even if at a glance you think she is. She is tall for her age. Which could be one contributing factor as to why she was bullied.
** Which leads me to this point, yes, she is tall. Very tall for her age. The stormtroopers in the photo are between about 5 foot 6 and 6 foot 3.
*** Yes, "four grown ass men" entered the school grounds with plastic toy blasters. No, we didn't break any laws. No, police or SWAT did not need to be called in. No, people didn't freak out. This is in Australia. The last time I remember a school shooting was in 2002, and it involved a crossbow.
**** After the troop the four of us didn't go back to our respective parents basements. In fact, the four in attendance are all around 40 years of age, all married, and have kids of our own. But even if any or all of us did live in the parental home, we'd still be doing more than most in helping out a fellow human in need. And the world needs more of that, don't you agree?
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