School bans 9-year-old boy's My Little Pony backpack

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On one hand, the mother should have maybe suggested to her son that a MLP backpack wasn’t such a great idea. If he likes MLP, then maybe something less “bully magnet”.

But, the school obviously has a bully problem if kids are telling others to kill themselves. The school needs to step in and stop looking the other way before something really bad happens.
 
lax16 said:
I recently attended a conference for educators and it was stated that kids are bullied because they have something about them that makes them a target. He stated that the future of anti-bullying is to focus on removing the bullseye from the back of the victim.

I think this is what the school is attempting to do.
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That just seems wrong to me. A little like blaming the victim of rape or domestic violence.In this case I can see the easy solution would be to get rid of the backpack. But this kid is marked now anyway, if he goes back to public school in the same district those same mean kids will be picking on him for something else.
 
I agree the school needs to step in but parents are number one in this discussion. They are essentially the ones who need to intervene first. Where exactly does the 9 year old learn to tell another student to “kill themselves?”

The educator can only do so much as to the foundation of the student’s behavior but they are only working with what comes from home.

But again …this is news?
 
Totally agree about the bullying aspect, that nothing excuses it; and I also agree about the “what next” aspect, i.e., kids being bullied for other things they wear (such as wearing a crucifix for example).

But looking this, I can’t help but get the feeling that the mother has a “political correctness” axe to grind and is using her child as publicity ammunition. 🤷
 
I seriously doubt that boy wants that backpack I don’t care what he said on TV. He wants that back pack because he knows his parents want him to have it to make some sort of point.

Also, the boy is probably teased for other reasons and I wouldn’t be surprised if the mother uses her son as a litmus test for her own defiance in ideology.
 
When I was at school, many years ago, we needed to purchase the school issued “school bag” as they were called. There were two choices, they had the school logo on the side.

Maybe the school could take up a similar policy.

Little kids are fickle…today it’s Rainbow dash that isn’t cool, tomorrow it could be something else.

My 5 year old was worried that his Batman Halloween costume was the wrong shade. (I got him a blue one, apparently Batman wears black now)
 
Book_Worm said:
Blaming the victim is still the most popular response.

Very sad.
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I don’t see it as blaming the victim. It is a recognition that if a backpack you are carrying is the cause of the problem, the solution isn’t to try to change the kids doing the bullying, it is to quit carrying the backpack. Unless, of course, you are trying to make a point and don’t worry about your son being bullied.

That being said, yes, we need to try to stop the bullies. I have no love of bullies. I was bullied, but I was bullied because I was smaller than the bullies. I wish I could have stopped everything simply by not carrying a certain backpack.

Peace

Tim
 
I think the school committed the sin of scandal by telling the boy not to bring in the backpack. They are sending the message to the student body that it is okay to bully kids who are different.
 
HoneyBea said:
I seriously doubt that boy wants that backpack I don’t care what he said on TV. He wants that back pack because he knows his parents want him to have it to make some sort of point.

Also, the boy is probably teased for other reasons and I wouldn’t be surprised if the mother uses her son as a litmus test for her own defiance in ideology.
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Have you considered the possibility that you’re the one with a bias here?

You seem to have the ability to peer into the minds and hearts of others.

The kid wants a backpack with some colorful horse on it (or whatever “my little pony” is). Somehow that’s some elaborate scheme apparently.
 
EIF5A said:
Have you considered the possibility that you’re the one with a bias here?

You seem to have the ability to peer into the minds and hearts of others.

The kid wants a backpack with some colorful horse on it (or whatever “my little pony” is). Somehow that’s some elaborate scheme apparently.
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Nope no bias, not a mind reader either, just common sense : )
 
didymus said:
USA Today:

Ai, ai, ai!
I know anti-bullying programs seem to ficus on certain kinds of victims but children are vicious and will bully anyone for any reason; being fat, short, too dumb, too smart or in this case being a brony.
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You are correct, and banning this child from using his back-back is an ignorant idea. Yes I said ignorant. It places blame and responsibility on potential victims of bullying instead of placing it on bullies. Bullies should be expelled from school, social services sent to their homes to see what is wrong there and be held accountable for their actions. The victims of this behavior need to be reassured they did nothing wrong and allowed to go on in peace.

I would also require the parents of a “bully” to attend classes with them the first year they returned to school. Bet the bully problem would come to a sharp end.
 
lax16 said:
I recently attended a conference for educators and it was stated that kids are bullied because they have something about them that makes them a target. He stated that the future of anti-bullying is to focus on removing the bullseye from the back of the victim.

I think this is what the school is attempting to do.
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Nice advice. Conform or face the consequences. :rolleyes:

My bullseye was being a bit dorky and shy with big glasses and stringy hair. How do you think I should have fixed it, what exactly was my bullseye? I switched to Catholic school in 7th grade to escape bullying and I did stop wearing glasses (which I think affected my academic performace from that point forward, hard to learn when you can’t see the board). Things then got a bit worse because now I had to actually fight other kids whereas in public school it was all verbal. I won a few and lost a bunch (a black eye is no fun for an 8th grader). I did manage to get away from it in high school but it took a long time to get over it and even now it left a mark (hence my angry post).

The advice on this thread is pretty disgusting. Victim blaming all the way around so far. Then again I’m only on page one so maybe more reasonable peope statred posting. How do we know that the kid wasn’t bullyed for other reasons and the backpack was just a part of it. That’s usually how things work.
 
I still haven’t seen anyone blame the victim,

Blame the parents, the backpack, the bullies, the school but no one has blamed the victim.

He truly is the victim by more than just the bullies that’s what is truly tragic.
 
J_Peterson said:
The advice on this thread is pretty disgusting. Victim blaming all the way around so far.
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As I posted earlier, I was bullied because I was smaller than the bullies. Nothing I could do about that and, like you, I had my share of black eyes and fat lips.

HOWEVER.

To say removing the apparent reason for the bullying equals blaming the victim is ridiculous. You couldn’t change the way you looked and I couldn’t change my size, but this boy can stop carrying the backpack. That isn’t blame, that is a solution to HIS specific problem. That doesn’t excuse the bullies at all. Would it be better that the bullying continued just to make a point?

Peace

Tim
 
Orogeny said:
As I posted earlier, I was bullied because I was smaller than the bullies. Nothing I could do about that and, like you, I had my share of black eyes and fat lips.

HOWEVER.

To say removing the apparent reason for the bullying equals blaming the victim is ridiculous. You couldn’t change the way you looked and I couldn’t change my size, but this boy can stop carrying the backpack. That isn’t blame, that is a solution to HIS specific problem. That doesn’t excuse the bullies at all. Would it be better that the bullying continued just to make a point?

Peace

Tim
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I say he should be able to use the back pack and the bullies should be suspended or expelled. To blame the back pack is to blame the child that chooses to use the back pack.
 
SuzanneD said:
That just seems wrong to me. A little like blaming the victim of rape or domestic violence.In this case I can see the easy solution would be to get rid of the backpack. But this kid is marked now anyway, if he goes back to public school in the same district those same mean kids will be picking on him for something else.
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Apparently, the research shows that this is the best way to prevent bullying. There was a study recently that said anti-bullying programs are not working and are in fact making the problem worse in the schools.

I agree that this should not be the case but I do find the research compelling.
 
So its wrong for this little boy to like a wholesome show? I dont get the mentality that its wrong for boys to like things like My Little Pony. The show teaches good values. Isay let the poor kid like whatever he wants. Its ok for girls to like action figures and things aimed at boys, but god forbid a young boy likes my little pony. With all the violent and pointless shows aimed at young boys these days, I would rather my son like a show like my little pony. My fiance is a brony by the way.
 
J_Peterson said:
I say he should be able to use the back pack and the bullies should be suspended or expelled. To blame the back pack is to blame the child that chooses to use the back pack.
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It isn’t blaming anyone or anything. It is stopping the bullying. You can deal with the bullies after you stop the bullying.

I really don’t get your insistence that anyone is blaming the victim.

Peace

Tim
 
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