Whitehall family hopes positive message can come from online bullying

The family of an 11-year-old Whitehall inventor is using cyberbullying and hate lodged against them as a teaching moment.

They hope the public will learn a lesson from it, too: That no matter how you feel about something, it’s never OK to bully and attack.

Over the past several days, the Malock family has been attacked online for the idea generated by their fifth-grade son to help train dogs through a form of stimulation when the animal got out of hand.

Nate Malock was set to compete today as a finalist in the PA Invention Convention with a prototype of his device, the Walk’er Shock’er. But fear for his safety after an onslaught of online attacks led his parents to pull him from the competition.

“When you’re a parent, every single moment is a teachable moment and it is our job — Brian and myself — to turn this into a teachable moment for him. What can you take out of it? How can you turn the negatives into a positive and how can we stay positive when people are trying to put you down,” mom Kristin Malock said.

Nate came up with the idea for the device that he entered into the competition after he saw his sister cry.

She had taken the family dog, Ellie, for a walk — or more like Ellie had taken her for a walk. She was covered in mud, with tears streaming down her face.

Nate said he wanted to help.

His family had already taken the year-old Labrador retriever to classes to help train the vivacious dog to remain calm.

One of the tools used to train the dog was an electronic collar, which was never intended to punish the dog, Kristin said. The family was taught that the collar was an extension of their voice, used to keep the dog in control, the Malocks said.

Nate worked with his grandfather for his project to create a training tool that would not only help protect his sister, but also Ellie — by keeping her from running out in the street or away from the family.

Nate explained that the device would “stimulate” the dog with greater force the harder it pulled, ultimately training the dog not to pull away from its walker.

He used duct tape, a PVC pipe and wood to make the Walk’er Shock’er non-working prototype, a name he selected because he liked how it rhymed.

“It’s a pressure detecting device,” Brian said.

The parents stress the intent was never to hurt a dog.

Nate thought through all of the details, like how much stimulation would be required based on the size of the dog. He even made a website for the device as part of the project.

“This was never a real thing,” Brian said.

His parents stressed that the idea was from a child.

“It was crystal clear that this was a child’s project,” Kristin said.

However, a Feb. 19 story published on Pittsburgh Magazine’s website led the device to get a lot of negative attention from the animal advocate community.

Nate’s project spread across the globe, with members of the shock-free proponent community blasting attacks at the child and his family. All of the comments came from adults, the parents said.

On Feb. 25, Baldwin-Whitehall released a statement from Superintendent Randal Lutz that said, in part, “At Baldwin-Whitehall, in our schools, we believe in supporting our students as they think through problems in order to develop new solutions. Sometimes a solution that seems ideal in concept, and which even receives positive feedback from others, may not turn out to be the best solution after all. Sometimes it takes hearing and listening to other people’s perspectives in order to rethink a problem and find an even better approach to solving it.”

Nate’s parents said they felt forced to pull down his website and remove him from the competition for his safety, as protesters were expected. Although they reiterate that the convention leaders were nothing but supportive.

The parents even contacted Whitehall police, who sent their K-9 officer over to talk with Nate about his project.

Nate, feeling bad, hid his project and all of his work in the closet. His parents want him to know that he did nothing wrong.

“It was an elementary school project,” Brian said.

Not everyone has the same views, but it’s never OK to make someone feel bad, the parents said.

“When people post about other people online, it is hurtful. These people have feelings. You need to remember that,” Kristin said.

“It is extremely disheartening when people feel so strongly about an issue that they’re willing to mock, insult and threaten others, instead offering constructive feedback and giving others the benefit of the doubt,” Lutz said in the statement. “Yet the nature of online communications sometimes seems intentionally designed to reward the person who says the most or yells the loudest, rather than the person who takes the time to listen and respond with concern, advice and empathy.”

There’s a lot to learn from this, like a different name might have been better for the product. His parents said they’re teaching Nate to take the feedback of others into consideration.

That’s a lesson they hope he knows when he makes his next invention.

“This was a wonderful project,” Kristin said. “When you get knocked down, you move forward.”

Lutz concurred: “Our district supports the Malock family, and we encourage Nate to continue exploring his interests in science, inventing, and creative problem-solving,” he said. “We also support those who seek to offer helpful feedback to our students throughout their educational journeys, as they learn by trial and error.”