To think this is a lovely idea?

[CumberCookie]

Check out "Happy Birthday Colin" on facebook. His mum explains,
"I am Colin's mom, I created this page for my amazing, wonderful, challenging son who is about to turn 11 on March 9th. Because of Colin's disabilities, social skills are not easy for him, and he often acts out in school, and the other kids don't like him. So when I asked him if he wanted a party for his birthday, he said there wasn't a point because he has no friends. He eats lunch alone in the office everyday because no one will let him sit with them, and rather than force someone to be unhappy with his presence, he sits alone in the office. So I thought, if I could create a page where people could send him positive thoughts and encouraging words, that would be better than any birthday party. Please join me in making my very original son feel special on his day."
Join in and wish this lad a very happy birthday.

[ReadyToPopAndFresh]

Link?

I hope the child isn't further ostracized by it though.

[gamerchick]

www.facebook.com/Coliniseleven?fref=ts

[EirikurNoromaour]

Is this real? Or a Facebook page set up to fish for likes by tugging at the heart strings and possibly using a picture of a hold without their knowledge and consent?

[LoopyDoopyDoo]

I hope, if its real, no-one is nasty on there. I'm struggling to believe in an 11 year old called Colin though.

[gamerchick]

1.9m likes.. thats impressive.

[TheProsAndConsOfHitchhiking]

Its real :) There was under 10k when I joined last week.

[WorraLiberty]

Sadly I think it's just asking to be trolled

I hope to god he has no access to it and his Mum won't show it to him until she's been able to moderate it.

But even then, unless she closes the page and screen prints it, anyone can troll it.

[MrTumblesBavarianFanbase]

He's in America - there are 11 year olds called Colin outside the UK :o I know a 7 year old called Colin where we live (Germany)... it doesn't have the same generational associations as its a "foreign" name :o .

I have seen a newclip about this (on the internet admittedly) but if its "like farming" its a pretty elaborate ploy, as there was a US TV news segment to watch which looked real...

I wonder about all those "I'm a teacher trying to teach my class about internet security, like to show my class how far a photo can spread" ones - I tend to assume there was a real one to start with but the ones going around now are copy-cats "like farming"...

[Punkatheart]

But they haven't trolled it. If someone does, you simply delete them and their posts disappear too. Not difficult. There are some great posts of support on there. I think it's fab.

[WorraLiberty]

Also, if his mum set up that page for 'positive thoughts and encouraging words'....I wonder why she opened a PO Box and put the address on the page too?

Obviously she's expecting gifts and cards etc.

Not a bad idea, as long as everyone is nice.

[BehindLockNumberNine]

I saw it. I did not 'like' it or comment on it. I felt a bit uneasy by it.

I think family members and family friends should make a fuss of the boy's birthday. What does it mean to him that 1.9million strangers like the fact it is his birthday.

That plus the fact that a lot of these types of statuses (statii??) are fishing for likes for other purposes made me uneasy...

[natwebb79]

As a teacher of this age group I really don't think this is going to help the poor lad with his friendship issues. ..

[Beeyump]

Makes me feel a bit uneasy too. And embarrassing for Colin maybe?

[MrTumblesBavarianFanbase]

natwebb I get the impression she's given up any hope of him having friends and wants him to see that somebody, somewhere cares about him... probably is misguided... she is receiving cards through the post, there was a photo of her holding them... I can sort of see why he'd like having lots of cards, even if he doesn't know the people who send them. Depends how he interacts with the world, hard to know whether this will make him happy or is all misguided...

[natwebb79]

Hmmmm true. I'm still sceptical, all seems very artificial...

[BehindLockNumberNine]

Have just had another look at the page and seen the photos of the stacks and stacks of cards (and larger envelopes, presents??) and think it is a bit unseemly.

Does Colin really care or is this for mum?

If Colin does care, how will mum top this for his 12th birthday?

[ageofgrandillusion]

Sounds fishy to me. Mad woman has already tried to ruin his life once by giving him a ridiculous name, now she is potentially opening him up to being trolled on a grand scale.

[Floggingmolly]

If the kid has no real life friends; why would it make his day to see that millions of complete randoms on the internet have posted on his birthday fb page (presumably set up because he has no actual friends?)
He'll probably be mortified and will be lucky not to be bullied because of it

[truelymadlysleepy]

I'm gullible, I saw it and thought 'aww, lovely mum doing something for her son'.
Why is it fishy, what's she got to gain by it?

[WorraLiberty]

Why is it fishy, what's she got to gain by it?

Gifts and money. If she hadn't set up a PO Box I would be less suspicious of her motives.

Although if people decide they want to give, that's up to them obviously.

[EirikurNoromaour]

'What has she got to gain'
Lots of presents, cash and other shit for free from strangers?

[FauxFox]

Sorry to be harsh not knowing the full story but i'm pretty cross about this. Why the hell is she publicising herself/him on FB in this way instead of sorting out his real life problems? Why the hell is he eating lunch alone in the office at school? WTF? My son has ASD and I would not allow this situation, I would be livid! He needs school input, supervised playdates and out of school activities with people with similar interests not a bloody FB campaign

[truelymadlysleepy]

How tasteless. Why would anyone send cash to someone they read about on FB? Nowt so queer as folk.