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"My Little Pony" backpack = "trigger" for bullying

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by jr/shotglass, Mar 17, 2014.

  1. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Again, I' not agreeing with the mother's decision. I think it is likely to backfire and put more of a target on her kid, not less.

    My issue is with many of the assumptions being made. We don't know what else the school did. Some just want to assume they did more, but there is no evidence to support that opinion. The assumption that the mother is a despicable enough person to make things worse for her child just to get a little attention is also not only ridiculous, but it isn't really supported by the facts. The facts don't disprove it, either, but to go on as if that is the only fair way to interpret things is ridiculous. (I realize that wasn't you. That was LTL).
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    There is an 8-year-old in my son's kindergarten class who delights in terrorizing the entire class. He's older than my second-grader. He's hit my kid in the head with a locker. He pushed another kid down the stairs. It's a long list... When we complained to the school, we were called in for a meeting, with five other sets of parents whose kids had dealt with similar situations at the hands of the same brat.

    the first thing they said was, "Your kids weren't targeted. He does this to everyone..." My response was, "OK, so it's not a bullying situation, can you still keep him from hitting my kid in the head with a locker?"
     
  3. jr/shotglass

    jr/shotglass Well-Known Member

    The thing I think we can agree on is that the mother, at best, is tone-deaf. And perhaps the answer is to say, "No, you can't take a "My Little Pony" backpack to school. You're a 10-year-old boy. And here's why." She could've done that. But she's not the villain. The bullies are.

    Given that she wasn't wise enough to make that decision, the boy needed to be rescued from her bad decision.

    Snide doesn't make you edgy. And oop's brought more to this thread than you.

    (See? Bullies are everywhere.)
     
  4. expendable

    expendable Well-Known Member

    True. Somewhat related, but I've noticed, especially among seniors, a throwback mentality as they realize they're about to become adults. That green grass starts to show brown spots the closer and closer they get to the fence.

    Back to the kid, though. The kid needs to own his actions, much like your example of the kindergartener. She doesn't get grief, in part, because she's confident in her decision.
     
  5. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    She also started a Facebook campaign BTW.

    https://www.facebook.com/SupportForGrayson

    Crazy attention-starved lady.
     
  6. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Nothing these kids do surprises me. Hell, you've got these kids who think they look cool with their pants hanging down below their asses. Most of them don't realize the practice began as a way for men in prison to advertise that they were available for sex.
     
  7. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Or stubborn mother refusing to admit she is taking the wrong path to support her son. We don't know, but you are more than willing to make things up.
     
  8. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I can definitely understand why you'd be in support of a person who is stubbornly refusing to admit being wrong.
     
  9. expendable

    expendable Well-Known Member

    I'm waiting for one of those kids to get pantsed in the hall. I've shared that slice of trivia with my students only to be met with a smacking of teeth and a story about how good the girls think it looks. I've never heard a girl respond with anything but laughter.
     
  10. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Well, I'm not backing you even though you won't admit that you are once again confusing your opinion with fact and won't admit it, so I don't always support such people.

    Also, I'm not supporting her. You are either failing to understand my point or intentionally misrepresenting it.
     
  11. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I think there is more than enough evidence to show the mom is milking this for all it's worth...

    And as was pointed out, she's not the villain, the bullies are, but she certainly seems intent on milking this for all it's worth.
     
  12. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Reading up on this story, it follows a previous well-covered news event from February in which an 11-year-old boy in Wake County, N.C., was hospitalized after a suicide attempt. In that case the parents said the boy was bullied because of his affection for My Little Pony.

    So a month later, in the same state, this mom buys her son a My Little Pony backpack (or lunchbox, that part goes back and forth), sends him to school and the exact same story apparently replays itself. According to the mother, "My son is being called awful names and has even been told to ‘go home and kill himself!’" I have seen no mention of previous bullying or that this boy was a target for any abuse before this.

    It sounds very conveniently copycattish to me. And I can't say for every 9-year-old, but the "kill himself" part would be pretty advanced knowledge at least among the 9-year-olds I've known. So, you put that background into it, and then look at the mom's orchestrated publicity campaign, and now she's famous ... yep, I think it's pretty clear her craving for publicity is the driving force behind all of this.
     
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