Child attempts suicide, being bullied for liking My Little Pony

[BronyPony 575]

I find it sick. This video contains the story at 1:05 or so:

 

 

I think this thread belongs here, but please move if necessary.

 

I think MLP should, in a light fashion, approach the subject, whether directly or indirectly. What do you think? Also, what do you think of the instance? Do you feel bad for him or do you think he is a coward?

[Guest]

That is sicking I mean what the fuck is wrong with people causing a child to attempt that just for liking something is just wrong

[Mephala 2,633]

This is an old story, and there have been multiple threads about it.

It's very sad, and I don't think that kids understand its permanence., which is why it is such a huge problem.

[Clarity 3,094]

Aren't you a bit late?

 

And no. Something like suicide would be far too dark for a children's show. Some kid might think, "Hey, that looks cool," and jump off a building. Bronies should realize that they're not the only audience.

[BronyPony 575]

Aren't you a bit late?

 

And no. Something like suicide would be far too dark for a children's show. Some kid might think, "Hey, that looks cool," and jump off a building. Bronies should realize that they're not the only audience.

I just looked at the date of the youtube video. Oops. 

 

But, as a topic in general, should MLP talk about it?

[yeet 2,027]

Personally, I feel like he could have just reported it. This is a problem. If he did report it (didn't watch video as I can't do sound right now) then the teachers are stupid. But like, if you report people bullying you, then something will happen to them usually. I know everyone reacts to things differently, but teachers are there for a reason.

[Invincible 2,091]

I can't even fathom approaching the subject of suicide from a safe angle for kids.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Terminus

[The real PON-3 71]

this fandom stopped me from killing myself!!

[Snow Frostflame 3,568]

.....damn ABB to hell I could only imagine what would of happened if this child had succeeded in killing himself...... now I hope those damn bullies are happy not only are they responsible for his attempted suicide now they have to feel the weight of the knowing what they have caused, it sickens me when a Anti-Brony succeeds in getting under someones skin

this fandom stopped me from killing myself!!

your aren't the only one, same here

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

This is a really sad topic here. Suicide is really serious, and not something family-friendly shows usually tackle...

 

 That said, if they thought they could do it in a respectful, educational manner, then I'm all for it. Kids are going to learn about it eventually, there isn't really any use in trying to shield them from absolutely everything. It's not "Too dark" for kids. I think more mature topics like this can be handled well in cartoons, if the writers know what they are doing. 

 

 

Personally, I feel like he could have just reported it. This is a problem. If he did report it (didn't watch video as I can't do sound right now) then the teachers are stupid. But like, if you report people bullying you, then something will happen to them usually. I know everyone reacts to things differently, but teachers are there for a reason.

Speaking as someone who was bullied rather heavily through most of my school years, reporting it doesn't always really help. The teachers and school staff usually just turned a blind eye to it, saying things like "Kids will be kids' and such. Even in the few instances where one of them did try to help, the bullies just learned to be more discreet about it. In most cases it just got even worse afterwards.

[~SadisticFluttershy~ 779]

I really don't understand why ANYONE would bully a child for liking MLP.

For people like myself, bullying means nothing to me. You can't hurt me in any way. I'll brush it off because it won't matter years down the road. They'll be long gone.

But for younger children like this kid was. It's hard for them take and understand that bullies are individuals that hurt others to make themselves feel better because of events that happened in their past.

I don't care who they are. There's absolutely no reason to bully ANYONE for any like, interest or hobby.

I'm sick and tired of people trying to commit suicide over bullying. I would love to help them and make them understand that those words mean nothing. It won't matter 20 years from now because they'll still be there while their attacker probably won't be if they keep up the behavior they have given to their victims. They may even get killed over it. Just a thought.

But prayers to the family.

I hope Michael has a full recovery and continue to live on with his life. I think about him all the time.

 

 

Should this be taken seriously? Absolutely because people as young as 7 years old are killing themselves. It's a factor that needs to be addressed and needs to be taken now. Cause like I said. There's no reason for things like this to happen. It should be taken directly to the person who is literately about to make the worst mistake of their life.

Edited September 19, 2014 by ~SadisticFluttershy~

[yeet 2,027]

This is a really sad topic here. Suicide is really serious, and not something family-friendly shows usually tackle...

 

 That said, if they thought they could do it in a respectful, educational manner, then I'm all for it. Kids are going to learn about it eventually, there isn't really any use in trying to shield them from absolutely everything. It's not "Too dark" for kids. I think more mature topics like this can be handled well in cartoons, if the writers know what they are doing. 

 

 

 

Speaking as someone who was bullied rather heavily through most of my school years, reporting it doesn't always really help. The teachers and school staff usually just turned a blind eye to it, saying things like "Kids will be kids' and such. Even in the few instances where one of them did try to help, the bullies just learned to be more discreet about it. In most cases it just got even worse afterwards.

Lel, I remember that now. We got told off for bullying when we were trying to have fun and a kid got butthurt through it. But they told us bullying is when it is continuous, but it happened once. I remember being bullied before. I remember some things. But I never thought of killing my self. I feel the teachers should have some form of blame in this case, if the kid went to ghem about it.

[KokuraiNoSenshi 3,463]

Yeahhhhhhhh let's insult someone because they like a TV show, that's the radical thing to do nowadays, isn't it?

 

Seriously, if I was around, this would not be happening. If my son wants to dress up in dresses & watch MLP, fucking hell I'll let him. If my daughter wants to be a rocker & get piercings & marry her gf, fucking let her! It ain't hurting me, I got no problem with it! (PS don't actually have a son/daughter, just saying if I do then I'd be a-ok with that stuff). I don't have a lot of time, so maybe in the future I will explain more in depth, but if you want to bully someone, just remember; They might be your boss some day.

[rainbowsmash13 53]

I think that if they do a suicide episode the one to kill them self should be pinkie because she so smiley which seams to be the case with allot of suicide victims. And the lesson could be to share you felling's and not to but on a fake smile to comfort those around you and that it is ok to be said. The plot could be  that something gets into her head that her friends and family would be better of without her

[Darker 1,351]

I guess MLP's reputation is that it's made for little girls, which was never true, said by the creator, Bonnie Zacherle herself.

 

I don't really care about this kind of problems, they always happen. And I'm tired of it. Kids should try to understand things first instead of overlook everything. But hey, they're kids. You can't understand or know what they're thinking or feeling.

[Jeric 46,851]

I was going to ignore this since I've chimed in on the other thread, but the poll question caught my attention, and that alone may merit some discussion. Can or should FIM address suicide? Outright .... no. However perhaps there is a way to symbolically address this issue through a character in the show that feels lonely and decides the need to actually move from Ponyville. Similar to how fans view Inspiration Manifestation as a symbolic anti-substance / enabling episode ... This could be a way to address suicide and depression

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this, but I don't care. I'll say it anyway, because I think it's true, and I believe it's worth saying.

 

I don't think you're ever going to stop bullying, no matter how sick it is. It's human nature to prey on the weak. Bullies aren't going to stop being bullies until they learn to act civilized, and even then... not every adult learns that. There's plenty of middle aged men walking on this planet who are just as big of bullies as they ever were as kids. I can name a few if you need me to, but I'm sure you believe me.

 

That said, in a lot of cases, getting help from adults can sometimes makes things worse. Getting parents and teachers involved paints the victim as just that--a victim, weak and incapable of defending himself. That makes him even more of a target for bullies.

 

The key to fighting bullying isn't to fight bullying. That's damn near impossible. The key is to prevent victims from being victims. If a kid is being bullied, the best thing to do is to build his confidence. No confident person ever gets bullied. Bullies seek a reaction from their targets--confident people don't provide such a reaction.

 

In this situation, I actually think MLP is being used as a scapegoat. Was he really bullied for liking MLP? Yes, he probably was. But this is not to say that he wouldn't have been bullied from something else, too. If he was more confident, I'll bet he wouldn't have been bullied. If a tough guy admits to liking MLP, he won't get bullied for it. You know what would happen--he'd make the rest of the class bronies, too. He'd make being a brony seem cool.

 

If I had a son and he told me he was getting bullied at school, the very first thing I would do would be to investigate why he isn't confident in himself. I would try to remedy that to the best of my ability. In my own experience, I found martial arts to be very helpful at building confidence. Having a few close friends and supportive parents also helped.

 

I was never bullied when I was around my friends--if I was, they would stand up for me. When I was bullied, I either ignored the person or immediately fought back. Ignoring the person only led to more bullying, but fighting back (or really, just showing that I was willing to fight) gained me recognition from my classmates. I was known as the kid who could knock you down onto the ground. No one messed with me, because they knew I would stand up for myself. Maybe I couldn't win a fight, but I proved I wasn't a coward. I proved that I wasn't prey. I was respected for that.

 

Now, I'm not saying it's the kid's fault. I'm not saying it's the parent's fault. It doesn't matter much anymore; what's done is done. I can say, however, that most anti-bullying efforts aren't all that effective. You can't stop bullies from being bullies. You have to stop victims from being victims.

 

And, let's face it... even if bullies do stop being bullies, low self-esteem is still a problem that we should try to fix, both within ourselves and within others.

 

Fixing low self-esteem doesn't necessarily imply punching bullies in the face and rectifying the problem. That's not what I mean. Fixing the problem usually only entails something as simple as looking the bully in the eye. "Yeah, I like MLP. So what, do you have a problem with it?" 

 

In a way, MLP already did address this issue, with Fluttershy's little seminar with Iron Will. But nobody liked that episode, so I guess we're pretending it doesn't exist.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Regulus

[lelouch. 625]

I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this, but I don't care. I'll say it anyway, because I think it's true, and I believe it's worth saying.

 

I don't think you're ever going to stop bullying, no matter how sick it is. It's human nature to prey on the weak. Bullies aren't going to stop being bullies until they learn to act civilized, and even then... not every adult learns that. There's plenty of middle aged men walking on this planet who are just as big of bullies as they ever were as kids. I can name a few if you need me to, but I'm sure you believe me.

 

That said, in a lot of cases, getting help from adults can sometimes makes things worse. Getting parents and teachers involved paints the victim as just that--a victim, weak and incapable of defending himself. That makes him even more of a target for bullies.

 

The key to fighting bullying isn't to fight bullying. That's damn near impossible. The key is to prevent victims from being victims. If a kid is being bullied, the best thing to do is to build his confidence. No confident person ever gets bullied. Bullies seek a reaction from their targets--confident people don't provide such a reaction.

 

In this situation, I actually think MLP is being used as a scapegoat. Was he really bullied for liking MLP? Yes, he probably was. But this is not to say that he wouldn't have been bullied from something else, too. If he was more confident, I'll bet he wouldn't have been bullied. If a tough guy admits to liking MLP, he won't get bullied for it. You know what would happen--he'd make the rest of the class bronies, too. He'd make being a brony seem cool.

 

If I had a son and he told me he was getting bullied at school, the very first thing I would do would be to investigate why he isn't confident in himself. I would try to remedy that to the best of my ability. In my own experience, I found martial arts to be very helpful at building confidence. Having a few close friends and supportive parents also helped.

 

I was never bullied when I was around my friends--if I was, they would stand up for me. When I was bullied, I either ignored the person or immediately fought back. Ignoring the person only led to more bullying, but fighting back (or really, just showing that I was willing to fight) gained me recognition from my classmates. I was known as the kid who could knock you down onto the ground. No one messed with me, because they knew I would stand up for myself. Maybe I couldn't win a fight, but I proved I wasn't a coward. I proved that I wasn't prey. I was respected for that.

 

Now, I'm not saying it's the kid's fault. I'm not saying it's the parent's fault. It doesn't matter much anymore; what's done is done. I can say, however, that most anti-bullying efforts aren't all that effective. You can't stop bullies from being bullies. You have to stop victims from being victims.

 

And, let's face it... even if bullies do stop being bullies, low self-esteem is still a problem that we should try to fix, both within ourselves and within others.

 

Fixing low self-esteem doesn't necessarily imply punching bullies in the face and rectifying the problem. That's not what I mean. Fixing the problem usually only entails something as simple as looking the bully in the eye. "Yeah, I like MLP. So what, do you have a problem with it?" 

 

In a way, MLP already did address this issue, with Fluttershy's little seminar with Iron Will. But nobody liked that episode, so I guess we're pretending it doesn't exist.

its a good thing i read your essay of an answer, because i was about to write the same thing. If the kid wasn't bullied for mlp, there would have been another reason for it.

[Twilight Circuits 603]

I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this, but I don't care. I'll say it anyway, because I think it's true, and I believe it's worth saying.

 

I don't think you're ever going to stop bullying, no matter how sick it is. It's human nature to prey on the weak. Bullies aren't going to stop being bullies until they learn to act civilized, and even then... not every adult learns that. There's plenty of middle aged men walking on this planet who are just as big of bullies as they ever were as kids. I can name a few if you need me to, but I'm sure you believe me.

 

That said, in a lot of cases, getting help from adults can sometimes makes things worse. Getting parents and teachers involved paints the victim as just that--a victim, weak and incapable of defending himself. That makes him even more of a target for bullies.

 

The key to fighting bullying isn't to fight bullying. That's damn near impossible. The key is to prevent victims from being victims. If a kid is being bullied, the best thing to do is to build his confidence. No confident person ever gets bullied. Bullies seek a reaction from their targets--confident people don't provide such a reaction.

 

In this situation, I actually think MLP is being used as a scapegoat. Was he really bullied for liking MLP? Yes, he probably was. But this is not to say that he wouldn't have been bullied from something else, too. If he was more confident, I'll bet he wouldn't have been bullied. If a tough guy admits to liking MLP, he won't get bullied for it. You know what would happen--he'd make the rest of the class bronies, too. He'd make being a brony seem cool.

 

If I had a son and he told me he was getting bullied at school, the very first thing I would do would be to investigate why he isn't confident in himself. I would try to remedy that to the best of my ability. In my own experience, I found martial arts to be very helpful at building confidence. Having a few close friends and supportive parents also helped.

 

I was never bullied when I was around my friends--if I was, they would stand up for me. When I was bullied, I either ignored the person or immediately fought back. Ignoring the person only led to more bullying, but fighting back (or really, just showing that I was willing to fight) gained me recognition from my classmates. I was known as the kid who could knock you down onto the ground. No one messed with me, because they knew I would stand up for myself. Maybe I couldn't win a fight, but I proved I wasn't a coward. I proved that I wasn't prey. I was respected for that.

 

Now, I'm not saying it's the kid's fault. I'm not saying it's the parent's fault. It doesn't matter much anymore; what's done is done. I can say, however, that most anti-bullying efforts aren't all that effective. You can't stop bullies from being bullies. You have to stop victims from being victims.

 

And, let's face it... even if bullies do stop being bullies, low self-esteem is still a problem that we should try to fix, both within ourselves and within others.

 

Fixing low self-esteem doesn't necessarily imply punching bullies in the face and rectifying the problem. That's not what I mean. Fixing the problem usually only entails something as simple as looking the bully in the eye. "Yeah, I like MLP. So what, do you have a problem with it?" 

 

In a way, MLP already did address this issue, with Fluttershy's little seminar with Iron Will. But nobody liked that episode, so I guess we're pretending it doesn't exist.

A quote and post worthy of my praise. Brohoof to you.

 

   I too was bullied in highschool up to the point where I started skipping school. Sometimes I did fight back simply because I had reached my breaking point. I was a just a really nice country kid living in the big city was new. But there's something I saw. City kids had collective attitude with a certain "fuck you" about it. In our first month in the city my brother and i were minding our business and some kids out of now where actually thought it was entertaining to surround my brother and beat him up. I'll never forget the blood just gushing from his nose as he screamed in pain.... Now.. If i see you bullying someone else on the street... Hehe, sometimes... I just have to look the people and stare and not say a word. I get that awkward silence back from them... and for some reason... they just stop. I slightly smile, slightly nod my head."Have a pleasant day gentleman."

[RainbowdashFTW 50]

Why the HELL would anybody do that?

 

Society is disgusting.

[Haruhi-chan 486]

Whether it's because the kid liked MLP or not, it's still wrong and sick. Kids are getting bullied for everything that isn't considered normal by society standards. The hard part about all this is the lack of support as well. A kid could go and tell a teacher, only to realize the teacher doesn't do a single thing. I've had this kind of bullying before because I grew up differently. Teachers accused me of bring all the bullying onto myself.

 

It's sad because just about every person who gets bullied commits suicide because no one helps them at all. It's sad that there's a lack of awareness for bullying in schools and workplaces as well. No one seems to realize the ongoing problem with this, even as much as people try to promote the awareness, the bullying just does not stop. The person has no choice but to think they are inferior to others and commits suicide thinking it will end it all. D:

 

I do think that maybe MLP should do a few episodes on how it's okay to be different from others. This might help kids realize that it's okay. It's a kids show, and most kids will learn more from television than they will from a parent or other adult. I don't think it should be about suicide because that can be a hard topic to tackle without trying to scare children.

Edited September 19, 2014 by AutisticAlice

[Everleaf 541]

Some people....they just....SICKEN ME!!!! sometimes I feel the way myself however I never plan on doing so 

 

 

 

the question is

 

 

WHY would someone bully someone for liking a show?

 

 

 

this I don't get okay My little pony is a show and just because it was (aimed) for little girls does not mean it IS for little girls or not only 

 

 

 

this stuff is sickening bullying people to the tip for such small reasons...just...stop....

 

 

honestly some people are just...sad...

 

 

I hope at least ONE DAY humanity will get better even FOR one day I would be so much happier....I swear people are getting worse every day....

 

I'm sorry but this stuff sickens me...

[Sceethe 704]

Personally, I feel like he could have just reported it. This is a problem. If he did report it (didn't watch video as I can't do sound right now) then the teachers are stupid. But like, if you report people bullying you, then something will happen to them usually. I know everyone reacts to things differently, but teachers are there for a reason.

 

if only life,and human minds in particular, would be that simple.

 

that´s not the way you think in such a position.

[yeet 2,027]

if only life,and human minds in particular, would be that simple.

 

that´s not the way you think in such a position.

I think it is how I would think in that position. If I'm getting bullied tons, tell the teachers, most of them like me. Tell my mum, cause she would get something done about it with the school. Not try killing myself.

[Sceethe 704]

I think it is how I would think in that position. If I'm getting bullied tons, tell the teachers, most of them like me. Tell my mum, cause she would get something done about it with the school. Not try killing myself.

have you ever felt like you wanted to kill yourself?

 

to get in such a mindset in the first place, you have to be in a mental position in where such a simple solution wouldnt be that easy to do.