Taylor Townsend recently revealed that her son, Adyn Aubrey, experienced bullying during a school camp. She also expressed her frustration with the camp counselor, criticizing her for failing to respond appropriately to the bullying incident.
In Oct. 2020, Townsend announced her pregnancy, and she gave birth to her son, Adyn, in Mar. 2021. The American often shares photos and videos of herself and Adyn on social media, showcasing some special moments in their lives and how they spend time together.
Taylor Townsend Reveals How She Taught Son Adyn to Deal With Bullying
Recently, Townsend took to social media to share several videos detailing her son’s bullying experience at the camp. She also mentioned how she taught him to stand up against the bullies.
According to Townsend, Adyn informed her that another boy at the camp had been hitting him, and he had reported the issue to his teacher.
Townsend reassured her son that he had done the right thing by speaking up. However, she also advised him to stand his ground and defend himself if anyone ever hit him. She explained that she had been taught to confront bullies in a similar manner and felt it was important to pass on this “wisdom” to her son.
“Being a parent is like the craziest work. My son told me, till last week, ‘Yeah, there’s a boy, he’s hitting me,’ because this is his first time at camp school around other kids. I said, ‘Hitting you? What did you do?’ He is like, ‘Oh, I told the teacher.’ I was like, ‘Good job, but if he does it again, you beat it. You don’t start, but you finish. That’s how I was raised, so I’m just passing on the wisdom and knowledge. We ain’t going to let nobody punk you. No sir,” Townsend said.
Townsend also disclosed that another boy was spitting on Adyn. She clarified to him that he should not tolerate such disrespectful behavior.
“This was like two days ago. He’s like, ‘There was a kid, he spit on me.’ Spit? Spit! I said, ‘Where he spit?’ He said, ‘Right here [pointing to his face]. I said, ‘Spit in your face? No sir. That’s just a level of disrespect.’ I said, ‘Adyn, you beat the sh*t. You use them jiu-jitsu moves. You pin his as* to the ground. You be sh*t because, sir, we don’t. We not doing that. That’s crazy,” she continued.
The 29-year-old told Adyn that while he should never initiate bullying, he must take a firm stand against it. She warned him that the bullying would likely continue if he did not assert himself.
“I’m like, okay, Adyn is not initiating the bullying. ‘You’re being bullied.’ So I had to explain to him, ‘You have to stand up for yourself because if you don’t, then they’re going to keep doing it. So you have to use your voice, be strong, and tell him, don’t touch me, don’t hit me, don’t spit. If they feel like they can punk you, they’re going to keep punking you,’” Townsend said.
Following these incidents, Townsend spoke with the camp counselor, who informed her that the boy who bullied Adyn had received a “time-out” and was required to apologize. The 29-year-old expressed her dissatisfaction with how the counselor handled the situation.
Townsend talked to the counselor about the strategvies she taught her son for standing up to bullies, and insisted that if he needed to defend himself in the future, he should not be labeled as “aggressive.”
“I talked to the counselor. She saw it happening and said, ‘Yeah, I put him in time out and made him apologize.’ Ma’am, please. Spitting? Time out? Adyn is not initiating this, and I don’t want Adyn to be labeled as aggressive or anything like that if he’s defending himself. So I don’t want you guys to be surprised if my child finishes what somebody else starts. I’m letting you know what we’re telling him now,” she added.
Townsend also mentioned that beyond the time-out, the other children involved in bullying Adyn did not face any additional disciplinary actions.
“Come to find out, they weren’t talking to the parents and it was no disciplinary measures or conversation past time-out. Make sure that you handle this with the parents and make sure that you keep an eye out on these kids,” the 29-year-old said.
The American stated that no one would bully Adyn, and she plans to visit his school when she returns to Georgia.
“Ain’t nobody wants to be beating on my child, bullying my child, spit on my child, and punking my child. We’ll play that. He thought it was funny, and I will be up at that school as soon as I get back to Georgia,” she added.
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On the tennis side, Townsend is currently in London for the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, which are scheduled to take place from June 30 to July 13 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
The American will compete in both the singles and doubles events. In doubles, she will partner with Kateřina Siniaková, defending their title after winning it in 2024 by defeating the pair of Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe in the final.
Townsend secured her spot in the main draw of the singles event at the grass-court Major by triumphing over Louisa Chirico, Hina Inoue, and Céline Naef in the qualifying rounds. She will face 28th seed Sofia Kenin in the first round.
Townsend and Kenin have faced one another five times previous with the latter having a 3-2 head-to-head lead. Their most recent match took place in the first round of the 2024 Charleston Open, where Townsend emerged victorious with a score of 6-3, 6-3.
The winner of the first-round match between Townsend and Kenin at Wimbledon will advance to face either Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro or qualifier Ella Seidel in the second round.
