11-Year-Old Who Confronted YouTube Bullies Gets Invited to White House
Boy and his father hope to pay a visit to the White House later this month.
— -- An 11-year-old boy who stood up to his bullies online has been invited to the White House in recognition of his "extraordinary" act.
Josh Fairbanks, 30, and his son, Logan, 11, like to post spirited YouTube videos from their home in Hartford, Michigan. But when Logan noticed a stream of cruel comments directed at him by Internet trolls, he asked his father to film him with a much more serious intention: confronting his bullies.
In a two-minute video, Logan bravely and calmly reads the words of his hectors -- calling him "fat," "stupid" and saying "I hope he dies" -- while looking directly into the lens.
Then he sent a message of his own: "I hope that people don't bully other people online anymore, and that this helps."
The video has drawn more than 700,000 views -- including someone at the White House.
Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Obama, wrote on Twitter Saturday: "you are stronger than anyone's hurtful words. We could all learn something from you and your dad!"
"Change happens when ordinary people do extraordinary things-when people have Logan's courage & speak up," Jarrett also tweeted.
Then came Jarrett's invitation: ".@DadVsLogan If you're ever in DC, pls stop by the @WhiteHouse and say hi. Logan may be a future occupant one day :)"
Thanks to donations, Fairbanks and Logan are heading to D.C. on July 20, and they hope to make the White House visit a reality.
"We are crazy excited," Josh Fairbanks told ABC News today. "Out of all of the mentions ... that was probably the one that made our hearts skip a beat the most."
Fairbanks said Logan loves history and is looking forward to "being able to walk the same halls as our presidents and our great lawmakers and be in the heart of what is essentially the entire world," Fairbanks added.
But the father and son team aren't stopping there. Fairbanks said they are planning to start a foundation called "Take the Power."
"We want to take a different approach to bullying and empower people who are bullied. We want to help people that are bullied take the power away," he said. "We want to give people a chance to take ownership of those nasty words. Once you take them away from the bully, they don't have the power anymore."