WILMINGTON, DE (RNN) - A boy with the last name of “Trump” will now be using his father’s last name at school due to bullying from other students, as his parents work to get his name legally changed.
Joshua Trump, an 11-year-old who is not related to the 45th president, started getting bullied two years ago when Donald Trump began campaigning, his parents told WPVI.
“They curse at him. They call him an idiot. They call him stupid,” Joshua’s mother Megan Trump Berto said.
Because of the bullying, Joshua’s parents decided to home-school him for a year but hoped when the boy began middle school, things would change. They even told Talley Middle School about the problems they had encountered with the last name “Trump.”
Teachers at the middle school avoided using Joshua’s last name, calling him “Joshua T.” or simply “Joshua” to help stop the bullying, according to the Delaware News Journal.
But recently, the students on Joshua’s school bus started bullying him again, his mother posted on Facebook.
“He said he hates himself and his last name, and he feels sad all the time and doesn’t want to live feeling like that anymore. As a parent, that’s scary,” she told WPVI.
In an effort to help Joshua, the school has updated its electronic database, changing Joshua’s last name from “Trump” to his father’s last name “Berto,” the Delaware News Journal reports. The boy’s parents are working on getting his name legally changed.
Mayer says the school is also working to support Joshua socially and emotionally. He told the Delaware News Journal that one of the lessons they try to teach students is that words matter and people should be kind to one another.
“With the political climate and the access to social media... it’s this constant trying to make them understand that what they say has an impact on how people feel about themselves,” Mayer said.
Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
