It is a gut-wrenching minute-long video that has gone absolutely viral.  A Tennessee boy's Facebook post tearfully recounting how bullies have tormented him in school.

It's prompted a condemnation of his attackers and an outpouring of support for him, both in the U.S. -- and here at home.  From celebrities to athletes, to even the President, Keaton Jones may have been told by bullies he had no friends but clearly, that's not the case.

He's now up to about 22 million.

“It's not okay. Just because people are different, they don't need to be criticized about it.”

That's Keaton Jones, pouring his heart out in a video posted to Facebook by his mother, who took the video after picking Keaton up early from his school in Tennessee.  He was afraid to go to lunch because he was being bullied.

“What do say to you?” she asks him.

 “They make fun of my nose, they call me ugly, they say I have no friends,” he replies, visibly shaken and upset.

The video has gone viral with more than 21 million views and it seems that Keaton Jones has many friends, from athletes like Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, who met Keaton over the weekend and posted a photo of the two of them on Twitter as his “new best bud,” to singers like Justin Bieber, who posted, “This kid is an all time, legend.  His name Keaton.”

Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt is one of Canada's authorities on bullying, as a professor and the Canada Research Chair in children’s mental health and violence prevention.  She says Ontario is leading the way in policies protecting children. Part of the issue, she says, especially in the United States, is acknowledging bullying exists.  

“I hear from far too many schools that say there is no bullying the school,” she says, “That is just an issue of denial.  Every school has bullying.”

Dr. Vaillancourt says the statistics bear that out. 

“Things will change for this boy,” she says, as she watches, the video, “but there are lots of boys and girls like this.  30% of North American children get bullied occasionally,” she says, “and 7 to 10% get bullied on daily basis. In Canada, that translates into half a million kids who get bullied every day in school and that's far too many children.”

Ottawa Councillor Allan Hubley couldn’t watch the video.

“I was getting physically upset about it watching it,” he says, “because it brings back a lot of memories.”

Hubley's son Jamie was 15 when he committed suicide, after being the target of bullies for years.  Hubley has worked to help protect the victims of bullying.

“You're not born a bully, it's a learned behavior so if it’s a learned behavior, you can “unlearn” it and people can help by talking about it,” says Hubley.

And that is clearly Keaton Jones' hope too; by talking about it, maybe things will change.

“It'll probably get better one day,” Keaton says wistfully, and turns away from the camera.