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Saw this this morning. I know there are guys on this forum who who have something stupid to say regarding that packpack on it's owner.
http://wtvr.com/2014/03/17/my-little-pony-backpack-ban/
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, NC (WTVR) — A 9-year-old boy has been told by his school to leave his “My Little Pony” backpack at home because it’s reportedly a “trigger for bullying.”
According to Huffington Post, Grayson Bruce said other students picked on him and bullied him because the backpack was “girly.” His mother, Noreen Bruce, said her son was punched, pushed down and called names over the fuzzy blue pony bag with ears.
“They’re taking it a little too far with you know, punching me and pushing me down — calling me horrible names. Stuff that really shouldn’t happen,” Grayson said.
Bruce said Buncombe County Schools officials told her son to leave the backpack at home to “immediately address a situation that had created a disruption in the classroom.”
Once news of Grayson’s tribulations spread online, thousands signed an online petition and took to a Facebook page to demand he be allowed to carry the bag.
As of 10:30 a.m. Monday, a Change.org petition asking that Grayson be allowed to bring the backpack back to school had over 3,000 signatures.
A Facebook page created in support of Grayson had nearly 14,000 “likes” Monday morning.
“We hope this page can offer support and shine light on a serious issue! Bullying needs to stop and we need to empower children to be who they are!” the page’s about message states.
Messages of support have been pouring in to the Facebook page.
“I’m sorry about what happened, but just keep your chin up, stay strong, and don’t let anybody change who you are,” Petty Officer Dorr with the United States Navy told Grayson in a video message.
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03-18-2014, 07:58 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-18-2014, 07:59 AM by Valuesize. Edited 1 time in total.)
(03-18-2014, 07:47 AM)Tiamat Wrote: Saw this this morning. I know there are guys on this forum who who have something stupid to say regarding that packpack on it's owner.
http://wtvr.com/2014/03/17/my-little-pony-backpack-ban/
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, NC (WTVR) — A 9-year-old boy has been told by his school to leave his “My Little Pony” backpack at home because it’s reportedly a “trigger for bullying.”
According to Huffington Post, Grayson Bruce said other students picked on him and bullied him because the backpack was “girly.” His mother, Noreen Bruce, said her son was punched, pushed down and called names over the fuzzy blue pony bag with ears.
“They’re taking it a little too far with you know, punching me and pushing me down — calling me horrible names. Stuff that really shouldn’t happen,” Grayson said.
Bruce said Buncombe County Schools officials told her son to leave the backpack at home to “immediately address a situation that had created a disruption in the classroom.”
Once news of Grayson’s tribulations spread online, thousands signed an online petition and took to a Facebook page to demand he be allowed to carry the bag.
As of 10:30 a.m. Monday, a Change.org petition asking that Grayson be allowed to bring the backpack back to school had over 3,000 signatures.
A Facebook page created in support of Grayson had nearly 14,000 “likes” Monday morning.
“We hope this page can offer support and shine light on a serious issue! Bullying needs to stop and we need to empower children to be who they are!” the page’s about message states.
Messages of support have been pouring in to the Facebook page.
“I’m sorry about what happened, but just keep your chin up, stay strong, and don’t let anybody change who you are,” Petty Officer Dorr with the United States Navy told Grayson in a video message.
In the future I wish you would consider how a story like this will affect Rowie before posting.
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Let the kid use it and tell the bullies to get a life!
The school just doesn't want the extra work.
Bronies, furries...it's not for us to judge.
Acceptance is a lesson that is best learned at a young age.
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03-18-2014, 08:43 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-18-2014, 08:44 AM by Tiamat. Edited 1 time in total.)
I'm on the fence on this one. Part of me says to , make a decision. Leave yourself at home or stand up for yourself. On the other side, my personal experience with Medford middle schools is that they do nothing about bullying. It's still a rough world out there for any kid who isn't completely mainstream.
LOL. This post would not post because in my first post, right after "says to" I had written "P o n y b o y" and the filter wouldn't let me post. Oh brother.
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Life is.
Sad, but true.
Learning to be a man is a process. Being a man can be defined in many different ways but the bottom line is something like, "at some point you have to stand up and use that part of your brain and other organs that only men have".
A boy who does not "develop" at the rate of his peers is in for trouble. Why let some stupid little thing like a pack back, clothing, or other outward signals complicate the difficult process?
As his dad, I'd do everything in my power to work this out with him, and try to convince him it was his idea too.
Life for weak men is often difficult. And life for weak women is REALLY hard.
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(03-18-2014, 08:43 AM)Tiamat Wrote: I'm on the fence on this one. Part of me says to , make a decision. Leave yourself at home or stand up for yourself. On the other side, my personal experience with Medford middle schools is that they do nothing about bullying. It's still a rough world out there for any kid who isn't completely mainstream.
LOL. This post would not post because in my first post, right after "says to" I had written "P o n y b o y" and the filter wouldn't let me post. Oh brother.
I recall P**y B*y from The Outsiders, but had no idea it also had gay connotations.
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(03-18-2014, 09:12 AM)Valuesize Wrote: (03-18-2014, 08:43 AM)Tiamat Wrote: I'm on the fence on this one. Part of me says to , make a decision. Leave yourself at home or stand up for yourself. On the other side, my personal experience with Medford middle schools is that they do nothing about bullying. It's still a rough world out there for any kid who isn't completely mainstream.
LOL. This post would not post because in my first post, right after "says to" I had written "P o n y b o y" and the filter wouldn't let me post. Oh brother.
I recall P**y B*y from The Outsiders, but had no idea it also had gay connotations.
Yeah, sometimes our PC gets our of hand.
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03-18-2014, 09:22 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-18-2014, 09:23 AM by csrowan. Edited 1 time in total.)
I posted this story on Facebook a week or two ago.
Kid is bullied for his "girly" backpack. School tells kid to stop taking the backpack to school instead of telling the bullies to stop bullying.
Anyone else notice a problem here?
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The backpack is not the disruption, the bullying assholes are the disruption. Does anyone believe for a second that if Grayson starts carrying a Superman backpack that the bullies will stop bullying?
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(03-18-2014, 09:22 AM)csrowan Wrote: I posted this story on Facebook a week or two ago.
Kid is bullied for his "girly" backpack. School tells kid to stop taking the backpack to school instead of telling the bullies to stop bullying.
Anyone else notice a problem here?
Maybe.
Why not flush that out a bit and explain the problem as you see it.
Personally, I think this reeks of problems that are complex and not easy to resolve.
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Suspend the bullies. Send them to counseling. Force them all to wear pony backpacks, too. I don't care.
But don't allow bullies to 'win'. "We beat up that kid and teased him, and now he doesn't bring that backpack anymore. See that kid over there with the purple coat?"
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(03-18-2014, 09:39 AM)csrowan Wrote: Suspend the bullies. Send them to counseling. Force them all to wear pony backpacks, too. I don't care.
But don't allow bullies to 'win'. "We beat up that kid and teased him, and now he doesn't bring that backpack anymore. See that kid over there with the purple coat?"
Your world seems binary. Simple. On the Yellow Brick Road.
You don't not "allow bullies to win". Maybe in a thousand years if the bullies haven't destroyed us by then. Bullies do win most of the time. (See Putin).
Human nature is more complex and difficult than science can get a grip on. Why some personalities are "stronger" and more forceful than others is impossible to explain (as yet).
Intelligent folks learn to out maneuver bullies, for the most part. That kid over there in the purple coat? It better be VERY VERY important for him to wear it, or he better learn to deal with some flack.
That's life. That's what all the people say. Shot down in April, but up in May…
In the end, we "do it our way".
Learn to deal with it, or learn to endure it.
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That's the viewpoint that leaves us raising generation after generation of bullies.
We need to shift our perception from "bullying is normal, leave the bullies alone and change your behavior so you don't get bullied or bully them back so they don't bully you" to "bullying is something from our past that needs to be left behind, so let's stop teaching our children that bullying is an acceptable behavior".
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Parents need to teach their shitty little bullies that their behavior is unacceptable.
Schools need to not tolerate bullying. One warning... then kick the little shits out.
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That doesn't solve the problem. That creates uneducated bullies who become the new low income and criminal class, popping out lots of kids, raising them up to be bullies too.
I think the Toolbox Project has some good ideas. Create a common vocabulary to describe tools we all have, and teach them to children at an early age. Continue this throughout elementary school for all kids. Do this for a few generations, and track the changes in behavior.
More information here: http://dovetaillearning.org/
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03-18-2014, 11:02 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-18-2014, 11:04 AM by SFLiberal. Edited 2 times in total.)
9 years old and he is using a my little pony's backpack? Seriously? Why don't his parents just dress him in a shirt that says "kick me" on the back? Time to throw the backpack and his teddy bear in the nearest dumpster and take the plastic cover off his mattress. We are creating a whole generation of wusses.
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(03-18-2014, 09:39 AM)csrowan Wrote: Force them all to wear pony backpacks I like this.
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(03-18-2014, 11:02 AM)SFLiberal Wrote: 9 years old and he is using a my little pony's backpack? Seriously? Why don't his parents just dress him in a shirt that says "kick me" on the back? Time to throw the backpack and his teddy bear in the nearest dumpster and take the plastic cover off his mattress. We are creating a whole generation of wusses.
Kids will be kids and will tease, that's a given. But it's okay for him to get physically assaulted because of this? How about if he takes a non-standard religious view? Non-standard sexual orientation?
So, instead of facing what's a pretty straight-forward issue head-on, the school administration takes the stance that it's just easier to not deal with the problem. Who's the real wuss here?
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03-18-2014, 12:42 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-18-2014, 12:45 PM by tvguy. Edited 1 time in total.)
I think the school probably is doing all they can do to discourage bullying and to find who the bullies are.
I think they also made the point that they can't protect everyone at all times and it's a good idea to NOT let your kid wear something that seems to make them a target.
Has anyone watched "Shameless" If so did you hear what frank said about school bullies? It was hilarious.
I found it.....
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