This past week, a video went viral. This video showed a 9-year-old boy with dwarfism, Quaden Bayles, saying he wanted to die due to the bullying he endured at school. Celebrities started pouring out their support, even to the point of raising thousands of dollars to send this bullied little boy to Disney. But a few days later, the question of Quaden’s age started circulating the internet.
Within hours, the tragedy people saw in the initial video was compromised and considered suspicious. This was all because one person spread unverified information that had potential to be true.
Today, I read an article written by Daily Mail that provided 5 instances which dispute the information provided by the original source that called Quaden’s age into question. With appearances on television and posts from his mother on social media, the timeline of his age adds up.
The other problem people had with this is that Quaden is a model and makes a fairly good amount of money from it. Having a vacation paid for to Disney when he has enough money to pay for it himself caused problems for some. But, is it wrong to let people do something nice for you? Just because you’re a model, does that mean you don’t have mental health problems and daily struggles?
The biggest takeaway from this story that I have is how one person’s criticism can taint the credibility of a person in a rapid-fire way. How do we as PR professionals control the narrative of a client or even be prepared for something to take a turn in the wrong direction? These are the questions that really made me think about how I can utilize the skills I’ve been given to be prepared for anything in the future.
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