Born To Be Mild

Did you ever see that 80's movie called "My Bodyguard"? It was about a smallish high school kid who needed help fending off bullies, and he got it, and also learned a few things about the size of courage.

I don't cotton to bullies. I didn't deal with them personally because of my outsized size and my propensity for talking loudly and often, so they moved on to less-crazy prey. But I always look to pass along stories of people stepping up to defend a kid, and here's a great one!

It all started in the 90s, like so many things. John Paul Lilly, a clinical social worker and professor was counseling a young boy who feared to leave his house, so tough were the neighborhood hoods who lay in wait. Lilly had been abused as a kid, but he had an ace in the hole: some local bikers who came to his aid.

“They became my family,” Lilly says. “I just never felt more secure than when I was with them.”

It worked for him, so he founded Bikers Against Child Abuse. He himself has been getting around on a motorcycle since he was a teen, and he says, “Bikers have a soft spot for kids,” and goes on to say he knows a lot of bikers were abused children, and, " When they see a chance to step in and release some of their own demons, they have no problem standing up for a child. It was just such a natural fit.”

Twenty years in, BACA is now an international - New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States - nonprofit that finds volunteer bikers to form a support system for kids who are the victims of family abuse. 

Of course, they don't just say, go help that kid. First they screen all applicants thoroughly, and conduct training for dealing with sensitive situations. The kid gets his or her own BACA vest, and the bikers, who might in other situations be known by colorful sobriquets such as "Shovelhead," "Bad Mama Jama," or "Warren," tell the kids to call them "Scooter" or "Pooh Bear" and such.

Then, they visit with the children in their care, stand by to protect them if the children fear a certain adult, and accompany them to court as needed...all for free.

The group is a nonprofit, and there have been times that participants have reached into their own denim pockets to get special things for "their" kids.

For a kid who has been conditioned to feel unpowerful and fearful, to have a person associated with the images of power and fearlessness in their corner is terrific. 

“When we tell a child they don’t have to be afraid, they believe us,” another volunteer named Pipes says. “When we tell them we will be there for them, they believe us.”

It's far too late for me to start riding a motorcycle, but I'm glad to share the BACA story!