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Boy who stood up to cyberbullies visits White House

WASHINGTON (WOOD) – A southwest Michigan 11-year-old who stood up to cyberbullies received a private tour of the White House Tuesday evening, including a special visit to the West Wing and Oval Office.

Logan Fairbanks of Hartford made a video of himself reading mean comments that had been posted on YouTube videos he made with his father. He told WOOD-TV he did it to take the power away from the bullies and give hope to people who have been bullied.

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“I want to make a stand not only for people that are being bullied, but I want to also help bullies not bully anymore,” Logan said on Tuesday while his family saw the sights in the nation’s capital.

The video went viral. Among the hundreds of thousands of people who saw it was White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, who then invited Logan and his family for a visit.

She met with them privately Tuesday night, and after the tour even tied Logan’s shoelace so he wouldn’t fall.

“I think part of the reason why what Logan did resonated so well is he could turn the tables and he, in a sense, said to the bully, ‘You’re not going to hurt me, but let me let you hear your words right back so you can imagine how you might feel if those words were directed at you,’” Jarrett said.

She went on to call it a “really brave thing for such a young man to do.”

Jarrett stressed that there are resources available to help identify and combat bullying at stopbullying.gov.

After the special tour, Logan described his visit with WOOD-TV.

“I went in the Oval room, and got to sit in the president’s chair,” he said. “I was kind of shocked that I was sitting in the chair at this age. And then there’s a doggy door at the bottom of his desk, and I got to peek out of it.”

Logan and his family explored several monuments on Monday and Tuesday, including the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

“Bullying doesn’t know age or race or sex or religion or poverty level. It’s global. There’s no boundaries. It’s one of the few causes that’s worldwide. This is no side to this,” Logan’s father Josh Fairbanks said.

Logan and his family will meet with U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph in Washington on Wednesday and will return home later this week.