For most of Thursday night, I couldn't sleep. I was furious.
I still am furious, but now I can at least get my thoughts together.
Zachary Mogavero has autism. One of his many gifts lies in his arts. Inspiration struck the teenager after he received his second COVID-19 shot and
he drew a poster featuring the healthcare workers at the Dome as a way to say thank you.
Moved by Zachary's work, the workers at the Dome Arena created posters of his art to decorate the Dome and stickers to hand out to people who receive their shots. They invited him to return to see his poster framed and share a song he wrote about the vaccine and why people should get it.
"He deals with his anxiety through his artwork and his songs," said Jani Lewis, Zachary's mother. "He definitely was happy [to get the vaccine]. Because of his special needs, he was able to go back to school four days a week. I know it's tough for so many families. When I heard he could get the vaccine, I jumped right on it."
What an amazing story of hope, joy, acceptance, and kindness. Later in the evening, we posted a video of Zachary to Twitter.
Knowing what the story was about, I expected to see some engagement with it on Twitter and Facebook. But I was not prepared for what happened next.
"I'm embarrassed for him," one commenter replied.
"The peak of cringeposting," another said.
I was dumbfounded and increasingly horror stricken. As often is the case, the further down I scrolled, the worse the comments became. Some mocked him for his appearance, others for his mannerisms and singing ability. Worse things were said that I won't repeat as they are filthy and undignified.
Eventually, our newsroom made the decision to remove the video - robbing other social media users of the chance to see the joy and creative spirit Zachary exhibited for dozens of people who chose to give their time and energy to help others too.
As the digital content manager, I oversee all our social media accounts, websites, and apps. This is among the most heartless and least empathetic responses to a feature story I have ever seen in nearly 11 years here. For a local news outlet in the age of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, I'd say that is significant.
But it goes beyond that.
I have two brothers - one of whom is autistic. When we rode the school bus together in elementary school, bullies would sit behind him and taunt him. Because he was a sweet and kind and impressionable child, they would teach him dirty phrases to say, listen as he repeated them, then gleefully mock him both to his face and behind his back. The reactions to this innocent video brought me back to those moments of helpless rage.
These bullies, now grown adults scrolling through their feeds late on a Thursday night, get disturbing enjoyment from typing cruel words about a child so they can get the dopamine rush of a like and a retweet at the expense of that child's self esteem.
Zachary chose to spend hours crafting intricate artwork and writing a song that he desperately wanted to share with people who helped him. Those workers praised him. Other people chose to mock him. It's not hard to see who has the moral high ground here.
Social media is a fraught world. Anyone can say anything at any time about any subject. Everyone feels their voice needs to be heard, whether it's a political opinion, a medical diagnosis, or a story about a boy who wanted to draw and sing. Sometimes the best response is no response at all. You don't have to type a response or reply with a GIF. You can simply scroll past. Next time, try that.
Even better, now that you know more about Zachary and his family, spend some time with people who are different from you. Autism Up and the Golisano Autism Center are excellent examples of places in the Rochester community where you can begin that process.
