"I Don't Want a Party Because No One Will Come" Boy's Birthday Surprise Gets Worldwide Response.

Why post here?

Because this little guy is a people and NOT a general chit chat topic IMO.

I hate seeing something like this because it's a mirror of our society and to what we have become. And yet...I love seeing something like this because it re-instills a hope of what we are capable of....

Anyhoo...

From Mom:

I am Colin's mom, I created this page for my amazing, wonderful, challenging son who is about to turn 11 on March 9th. Because of Colin's disabilities, social skills are not easy for him, and he often acts out in school, and the other kids don't like him.

So when I asked him if he wanted a party for his birthday, he said there wasn't a point because he has no friends. He eats lunch alone in the office everyday because no one will let him sit with them, and rather than force someone to be unhappy with his presence, he sits alone in the office. So I thought, if I could create a page where people could send him positive thoughts and encouraging words, that would be better than any birthday party. Please join me in making my very original son feel special on his day.

The page had over 50,000 likes in its first week on Facebook. But thanks to a viral push from all over the world Happy Birthday Colin now has nearly 1 million likes. Jennifer initially hoped to get 50 responses from family and friends, but never thought it would reach this many people. "He's going to have a lot of friends after this," Jennifer told WOODTV.com. "They may not live by him, but he's going to have a lot of friends." Colin does not know yet about the page. She plans on showing it to him on his birthday. Jennifer also posted a mailing address for those who would like to send their birthday wishes to Colin. If you're interested, you can write to: PO Box 756 Richland, MI 49083-0756 Read more: www.myfoxdetroit.com...

What started out as a small gesture to make a Kalamazoo boy feel better on his birthday quickly grew to much more.

The page is still being kept secret from Colin as Jennifer is trying to collect the cards and messages to give him as a surprise for his birthday.
www.myfoxdetroit.com...

I'm not a FB person but for those that are and want to wish Colin a great day:

“Happy Birthday Colin”

Peace

support misbehaving kids, nice

ntfpdx
support misbehaving kids, nice

At least he has an excuse...

What's yours?



Jude11

reply to post by ntfpdx


try building bridges instead of living under them

"He's going to have a lot of friends after this," Jennifer told WOODTV.com

How naive, ppl on the internet are not your friends.

I doubt they would remember him after15 minutes of lolcats.

ntfpdx
support misbehaving kids, nice

Sounds to me you'd be the perfect bully to this 11year old.

Way to be a positive influence newcomer! (being a huge smartass) after your comment I think you need an explanation.

ntfpdx
support misbehaving kids, nice

It's because of people maybe like you that he tries to befriend and after being put down and such...... If it were me, I might want to sit by myself too.

I made a few friends here at ATS, met one in Anchorage for coffee and lunch last year. It was a good experience.
Give somebody the positive chance in life even if a bit absent minded. I for one am happy to see what moms will do to shed light in their children.... I know many moms could not give a Schmidt about their kids these days.

Did your mommy not care about you? I bet if you think a bit harder of your past she may have done the same for you more than once.

Good luck

luciddream

"He's going to have a lot of friends after this," Jennifer told WOODTV.com

How naive, ppl on the internet are not your friends.

I doubt they would remember him after15 minutes of lolcats.

Do you think it matters to him?

In one moment of his life, 10's of 1,000's of strangers took a minute to share with him.

A moment many will not ever have.

I'd say he's rich...at least for a moment. And his mom will make sure that moment lasts.

Peace

BelowLowAnnouncement
reply to post by ntfpdx

 

try building bridges instead of living under them

Love that quote. Well,I have a son similar in his social challenges,and being a mom of such, I took the time to wish him a happy birthday,and shared the page for others to do so. You cannot possibly know the positive impact of one kind gesture if you never take the initiative to do one. I cannot believe the negative comments in this thread...things Iam positive would never be said to a mothers face. Is it really that difficult to put a smile on a child's face?

Online friends is not the same thing as real friends...this may make him more confused about human interaction behaviour later in life...

AccessDenied

BelowLowAnnouncement
reply to post by ntfpdx

 

try building bridges instead of living under them

Love that quote.

Well,I have a son similar in his social challenges,and being a mom of such, I took the time to wish him a happy birthday,and shared the page for others to do so. You cannot possibly know the positive impact of one kind gesture if you never take the initiative to do one. I cannot believe the negative comments in this thread...things Iam positive would never be said to a mothers face. Is it really that difficult to put a smile on a child's face?

edit on 13-2-2014 by AccessDenied because: (no reason given)

Thanx for your input.

I also can't believe the comments here. Makes me think that ATS is not the place to place such things as hope, love, wishes and peace.

This site has changed so much in just a few years. Politics, Religion, UFO's and Police...

Sad really.

Peace

Skywatcher2011
Online friends is not the same thing as real friends...this may make him more confused about human interaction behaviour later in life...

So what?

OK, I give up.

All the negative posters...Back to your holes!

Peace

reply to post by jude11




I saw this in the paper earlier, so lovely.... and so sad at the same time.
As you can see from a couple of the comments in this thread, it's a different world out there...it's now considered "cool" to be nasty and cruel and mean.
There's a fun game that young people play that involves sucker punching people to the floor.


The world is kinda messed up.


BUT

It's stories like this and other amazing things that people do that give us hope.

jude11

Skywatcher2011
Online friends is not the same thing as real friends...this may make him more confused about human interaction behaviour later in life...

So what?

OK, I give up.

All the negative posters...Back to your holes!

Peace

What I meant was that this was a really nice gesture by his mom to raise the spirits of her son and make him happy. But we won't know the drawbacks (psychological - if any) of this FB experiment.

Who knows, maybe he will make more friends in person this way? Maybe not? But for the moment it is a happy story.

Skywatcher2011

jude11

Skywatcher2011
Online friends is not the same thing as real friends...this may make him more confused about human interaction behaviour later in life...

So what?

OK, I give up.

All the negative posters...Back to your holes!

Peace

What I meant was that this was a really nice gesture by his mom to raise the spirits of her son and make him happy. But we won't know the drawbacks (psychological - if any) of this FB experiment.

Who knows, maybe he will make more friends in person this way? Maybe not? But for the moment it is a happy story.

OK, got it and thanks.

My bad because I know you as a better poster and should have asked for further clarification.

I'll leave the original post just so others can see what happens when we jump to conclusions.

Apologies.

Peace

Hope the kid gets a good birthday and that the attention makes him feel special instead of unwanted.
There is no worse feeling than actually believing within yourself, that you are unwanted. He feels that it seems and he actually accepted it, that cant be easy to walk around with everyday. Hopefully he will get some hope for the future because of this.

blupblup
reply to post by jude11

 

I saw this in the paper earlier, so lovely.... and so sad at the same time.
As you can see from a couple of the comments in this thread, it's a different world out there...it's now considered "cool" to be nasty and cruel and mean.
There's a fun game that young people play that involves sucker punching people to the floor.


The world is kinda messed up.


BUT

It's stories like this and other amazing things that people do that give us hope.

Thanks.

I know what you mean.

I feel like I got sucker punched along with the little guy. The difference being is that I can Defend myself while he can't.
I see that makes many people brave on the web because they would never speak like this in public as is the case with so many cowards.

Peace

My family will be sending a little something..to him..I don't care if some of you think it's fleeting--it's a kid--everything is lived in the here and now with kids. He will love it and he will remember even if others don't.

Neopan100
My family will be sending a little something..to him..I don't care if some of you think it's fleeting--it's a kid--everything is lived in the here and now with kids. He will love it and he will remember even if others don't.

Thanks.

That's all I cold hope for and if it happens...Mission accomplished!

Peace

reply to post by jude11


I absolutely love that the mother did that for her son and the outpouring of love that responded was so large.

However, I wish the media didn't choose to exploit this and instead just allowed it to happen without putting the kid's photo and story out there to the masses because for the child it is a double edge sword: the immediate benefits are great but kids can be cruel and this will be ammunition for those who like to pick on others or in disagreements with friends.

It would have been much more beneficial if the news media used better judgement and allowed this wonderful mother's fabulous act of love and the incredibly positive response by those who came across it to remain what it was and not exploit it.