After He Learns His Daughter Is A Bully, Father Befriends Victim & Gifts Her Daughter’s Shopping Trip

Dec 07, 2021

Bullying is a problem that far too many children face as they grow up. There are many reasons as to why children bully: some may come from abusive families and are playing out the only patterns they know, others may feel powerful putting someone else down, and many others may just not know better. It is usually up to the parents to teach their children better and to show kindness and empathy at all times. 

Randy Smalls, from South Carolina, was very sad and upset when he found out his daughter, Re'Onna, had been bullying another girl student back in 2019. Randy knew he had to do something to show his daughter how much he disapproved of her bullying. After thinking for a while about the best way to go about changing his daughter's attitude, an idea struck him: Re'Onna's favorite thing to do was go shopping.

TODAY reported that Randy had been saving up money so he could take his daughter on a shopping spree as a reward for good behavior. Since she wasn't behaving well, he concluded that his daughter's victim should get the shopping trip instead. Randy told Yahoo Lifestyle that this hit him hard because he had suffered terribly from bullying in school when he was a child. The story appeared on the daytime T.V. show "Strahan, Keke, & Sara" and caught the attention of everyone who watched that episode. 

Many parents do not do enough to teach their children the consequences of bullying, but Randy's decision to teach his daughter a lesson provides an opportunity to learn as well. 

Randy decided the victim of the bullying, Ryan Reese, needed to have a good time far more than her bully did, and took her on the shopping spree instead of his daughter Re'Onna according to TODAY. The victim had a grand time and purchased some much-needed new clothing. Even though Re'Onna was really angry at first, she finally came to realize that Ryan deserved the spree. 

Ryan had trouble describing her feelings about being bullied. She said she had recently lost her father, grandfather, and aunt, and was having some difficulty dealing with the grief. The bullying on top of this had left her feeling sad and quite depressed, so she turned to her mother and told her about the bullying.

When Ryan's mom found out about the bullying, she immediately contacted Re'Onna's parents to inform them of their daughter's behavior. Ryan's mother said she had no idea what to expect; in fact, she expected nothing, as in her experience most parents didn't seem to care if their children went around bullying other students.

The kicker to Randy's approach to teaching Re'Onna a lesson was that he made her tag along to the shopping trip – except she wasn't allowed to shop, just watch Ryan shop. The spree had two effects: the two girls got to know each other, and Re'Onna realized how wrong her behavior had been.

Randy told ABC's Strahan, Sara, and Keke, that parents are responsible for their children's behavior, and that it is important for parents to not try to be their child's friend. In fact, this entire story shows a picture of good parenting: one parent found out about the bullying and reached out to the other parent, who immediately took action to correct the problem.

How do you think you would have handled the situation? Consider discussing this story with your friends and family, and be sure to tell us your thoughts as well.