School Bans Rainbow Dash Backpack for Bullied Kid

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,853]

The kid is only 9, maybe the parents actually didn't know because lets face it even if it is a boy he still is in the "target audience" and it is not like his parents forced him to do it.

Yes, but it's still MLP. Look, I'm gonna make a confession. I used to play with my sisters' Barbie and G1 MLP toys when i was a kid. But i would have never, ever take any of those toys into school because I knew I was gonna get bullied. I'm not saying it's right, but it's just the way kids behave. Even in the school where I teach, even though it's an all girls school, some kids have been bullied for bringing MLP stuff in!

If you are a teacher I can't take you seriously, sure we could expect the muttered voices of intolerant little bigots with an insecurity of artistic taste high dosages of grand theft auto and parenting that comes second to drugs and alcohol, who is the one that should be shamed and laughed at, the kid with an artistic passion or the intolerant little bastards that are learning they can be rewarded for being ignorant snide little pricks. Of course the shaming will continue regardless if he wears the backpack to school or not, kids that bully do it because they are inferrior, and not getting more in depth with their problem, IS THE PROBLEM. Because they can and will continue.

 

 

I don't teach boys, so luckily I've never had to deal with the whole brony thing, but if i did i would tell them not to bring MLP merchandise in!

[Spagem 505]

Hey it was totally the kids fault I mean he was totally asking for it when he decided to wear a backpack based on a harmless cartoon.*sarcasm*

Well, if you wear an MLP backpack to school, it's kind of common sense you're going to get bullied, so in a way, it is the kid's fault for being bullied.

 

It's not like he cared about the bullies anyways though, as he kept wearing the backpack.

[Shanks 10,811]

It's not like he cared about the bullies anyways though, as he kept wearing the backpack.

Yes, he clearly didn't care and I honestly think we would all be a lot better off it more people just didn't give a damn what other people think and had the guts to be actual individuals.

[Comrade Courage 653]

how can they think this is a solution, God it's hard to keep a level head when people are so stupid but what can we do, like we all talk but what does that do how does this change the situation then again is there anything we can do? 

[Tigerpop198 696]

Wow, is that actually a solution. To me doing that would just cause more problems that it would solutions. The victim is getting the wrong end of the stick here.

[\/ 650]

Hey kid! You seem sad! Oh, you're being bullied? How about we take your right to free expression away as well? That'll solve our problems! Now we won't get fucked up by the government because we "took action"!

 

These people are the most ignorant idiots ever. They're ignoring the problem like a teenager taking drugs to forget about a test. Shove the problem aside so that you can relax, and don't solve anything. How about we all do this, too? I really think people can't solve their problems anymore. No wonder America's in so much debt. I guess the adults are getting some of this stupidity, and the kids know better than them. Why not have a 10 year old run the school? A kid could do better than them right now. Grayson deserves to wear that backpack proud! I don't know if people are becoming more unhuman, or if they just can't deal with life anymore. Now if only we could get a group of teenagers to go visit Grayson, let him wear all the MLP merch he wants, and then show up those little brats that bullied him and actually solve something. Anyone up to it?

[)O( Scarlet )O( 1,259]

So what they're basically saying is that it's the kids fault for having a Rainbow Dash backpack and bringing this on himself, rather than blaming the actual bullies themselves. Right. That makes sense.

 

 

that happens a lot at schools I'm afraid. Especially when fights break out. The victim always gets the blame and the bullies get away with it, scott free (speaking from own personal experiences)

[Redneck 64]

Hey yall, hate the administration and bureaucracy, not the country. A lot of places, like where i live, would have hauled off on the boys that bullied that kid regardless of the schools decisions. people who bully have usually been bullied, like me. iv been bullied and ended up a bully (i was a 4' 5" fat kid) but my parents smacked some sense into me and i thank God! it starts at  home, all of it, the victim mentality that schools teach to the victims and the bully mentality that parents teach to their children.

[Zhortac 1,473]

Yes, he clearly didn't care and I honestly think we would all be a lot better off it more people just didn't give a damn what other people think and had the guts to be actual individuals.

 

Blame mainstream media. They label the crap out of stuff, and make us think they know what's good for us and what's normal, and go all apeshit on things that might conflict with their bullshit.

[Shanks 10,811]

Blame mainstream media. They label the crap out of stuff, and make us think they know what's good for us and what's normal, and go all apeshit on things that might conflict with their bullshit.

Bingo, but who controls the mainstream media? A handful of major corporations that have a vested interest in a public smart enough to turn the levers but just dumb enough  to conform to their bullcrap and not question how hard they are getting screwed. And those same corporations control the government which runs the public schools as well.

[\/ 650]

I think the wonderful people at that school deserve something.

 

[SomariFeyWright 776]

As a teacher myself. It's just easier to work with the victim rather than the bully. Even if that means moving the victim to another school. Because, if the student is a bully, in 9/10 cases the parents are too! On more than one occasion I've been threatened by parents for giving detention to their kids.

... I don't care if you're a teacher, this is sincerely the dumbest thing I've read in a long while.

 

You think that, oh, instead of punishing the TRUE CAUSE OF TROUBLE, at the risk of a few assholes complaining, it's easier to just get rid of the kid who's suffering simply for being himself?

 

My god, that kind of mentality is the reason we still HAVE problems like this. <<;

[Shift 4,271]

WHAT?

 

So yeah, a kid as a RBD backpack. And? Ban it? That's... oh my god that's so wrong

[SomariFeyWright 776]

I'm sorry but the kids parents are partly at fault here. They know that kids are gonna bully a boy who comes into school with a MLP backpack.

"I'm sorry, but her parents are partly at fault here. They know that people are going to rape someone going out dressed in a dress like that."

 

Do you see the problem with your words yet?

 

VICTIM-SHAMING IS NOT OKAY

[man dude man 555]

It's not about the kids bullying at this point, it's more about the school altering a dress code because they can't handle a situation correctly. It's sad when people act like it's something to accept as a society, people that allow these atrocities are worse than the ones commiting them, because if you can be the voice of reason, why remain silent, when you know all of the other voices will echo against you.

[Simon 4,554]

 

 

Being as you're an expert, what should I do? Confront the parents, get into a fight with them? I teach in an area of London called Hackney. Look it up. Its the equivalent of South Central LA. I don't know what the parents could be carrying. The school has confiscated knifes before and this is primary(elementary) school!

Pretty sure you were being sarcastic, but seeing as I'm more of an expert than anybody else here, I will actually answer.  (I.E. AA and BA in Criminal Justice, Doctorate of Jurisprudence including extensive coursework on victim psychology, victimology, and criminology and work history including work background in prosecution dealing with victims).

 

And the answer is that you're making the situation worse every time you blame a victim for being victimized.  First of all, it creates a victim mentality.  This is something that's really common to see with domestic violence, sexual abuse, and bullying cases.  In those types of cases, people often will do exactly what you're doing here, which is try and put blame on the victim.  When those negative messages are sent to a victim making them feel like it's their fault, it creates a victim mentality which can cause that individual to blame themselves when they are victimized.  This is what causes abused spouses to apologize to their attacker and stay in the relationship.  You're creating a mindset that it's the victim's responsibility to prevent the attacker from attacking them, and if they aren't able to do that then they feel they're to blame.  When you punish the victim by moving them to another school, restricting what they can do, and similar things, it further exacerbates the situation by significantly decreasing their likelihood to report incidents, which of course makes the abuser more comfortable with abusing, and increases the danger and levels of violence and bullying that can occur.  And rest assured this is psychological conditioning that in all likelihood will last a lifetime.

 

The bottom line is that as a teacher, it is your responsibility to protect the pupil.  If you aren't comfortable in that position, you shouldn't be in it.  I'm sorry you're in a bad area of town, but remember that the students are too.  If you refuse to stop a bully because they might be carrying a knife, then you might be safe, but you just endangered the life of the child that's being abused.  To be blunt, if you refuse to step in because of the location of the school, you need to find another school or find another job, because you're endangering people's lives and need to leave that position to someone comfortable with intervening.  Police officers don't get to sit back and let someone get shot because they don't feel comfortable responding to a call in the city they work in.  In the interim, you can talk to your school's administration when you're in a situation where you don't feel comfortable... if you give a kid detention, and the parents demand to speak with you and you feel that they might react violently, ask an administrator or other teacher to sit in on the meeting with you.

 

Bottom line is that even if you prevent harm to a single victim by shipping them off to another school, you're leaving the cause of the harm exactly where it was and there's always someone else that they can hurt, so until you actively work towards removing the threat from the situation instead of the victim, you're always going to be dealing with the same problems.

[Misterian 118]

If it helps, I did find a website that explains what to do and what can be done when someone is bullying; StopBullying.gov

 

If you think this website has anything that can help, we could present what we know to the kid's mom and hope it helps bring the bullies to justice.

[Redneck 64]

If it helps, I did find a website that explains what to do and what can be done when someone is bullying; StopBullying.gov

 

If you think this website has anything that can help, we could present what we know to the kid's mom and hope it helps bring the bullies to justice.

.gov? that extension renders any and all information on the site completely unusable garbage, sorry.

[BinaryPony 120]

While my original question has remained unanswered, I would like to take a moment to tell about a tale of @***ole parents that don't give a flying _yay about what really goes on...(Sorry, I really needed to say it like that to emphasize my point) A basketball player wanted to withdraw because after being given disciplinary action, and his parents were on his side!

Edited March 13, 2014 by BinaryPony

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

Yeah next thing you know it our government is going to ban sexy clothing for women to prevent rapes. Still think it's his fault for being bullied? No the bull choose to be a bully. Simple.

[Dzastur 1,719]

This story just hit the front page of CNN.com. Complete with show footage.

[Castle Bleck 19,197]

Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherbucking schools on this motherbucking planet! Fluttershy, sic 'em!

 

[Nerdy Luigi 2,064]

Seriously.... People need to understand that bullied kids don't put it on themselves.

By the way, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

[MLPForums Phanact 1,374]

This really sucks. I understand the thinking behind it, remove the reason the child is being bullied and the bullying will stop but that's just not how it works. These bullies will continue to look for weaknesses or flaws and pick at them. By disallowing that child to wear that backpack, they're allowing the bullies to dictate what is right and wrong.

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,671]

Looks like nobody has posted a thread on this one yet, so I thought I would.  A kid was being bullied for having a rainbow dash backpack, so of course the school's solution was to tell the kid he wasn't allowed to bring it anymore.  

 

http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/kid-bullied-for-rainbow-dash-backpack.html

THAT, dear ponies, is how you make an unequivocably clear statement as to how utterly incompetent your school is with handling the problem of bullying. It's funny because of how the school openly exposed its own sheer incompetence.