Boy's backpack blamed for bullying

[Kheldarson]

Because how dare a boy like My Little Pony, amirite?

http://fox10tv.com/2014/03/12/mom-sc...-for-bullying/

Basically, the 9 year old is getting pushed and shoved because he wears a MLP book bag. The school has decided that the best course of action is to ban the bag rather than take care of the bullies.

Because victim blaming should be taught as early as possible, apparently.

[anakhouri]

Reminds me of my childhood. "Well, maybe you'd fit in better if you didn't act so weird."

[Bloodsoul]

I've had Powerpuff Girl keychains on my backpack for over ten years… oh, Lord, it's been over ten years. Guess it is more for nostalgia, now, than anything else; I'm surprised the darn things still have as much paint on 'em as they do!

I can't recall getting any slack for it, but then I've never had the best of memories, either…

[Gravekeeper]

I had Sailor Moon stickers on my school binders.

Never heard a word about it from anyone though. ;p

[bex1218]

Yup, taking away the backpack will magically stop the bullying. Good job.

[Hyena Dandy]

This is what happens when the people who still subscribe to "Bullying is good and normal" are told to fight bullying. >_<

[Panacea]

This won't stop the bullying. It will encourage it. The bullies now know it's open season on this kid.

The parents need to enroll him in a private school and bill the school district since the school created the hostile environment that forced the kid out.

[s_stabeler]

OK, so now the school is officially guilty of bullying themselves. ( after all, they brought in a rule specifically to cover the kid)

Also, to be blunt? bullies will bully just about anyone, on the flimsiest of excuses. I was bullied because (I think- I could never be quite sure) I like to read, rather than do various stupid crap most of the other kids liked to do ( this is not during lessons, before anyone mentions it) By this schools' logic, i should have been forced to do what the other kids were doing.

also, this is victim-blaming. Indeed, I suspect that victim-blaming in adult life has it's roots in bullies getting away with it in school. ( after all, if a kid being bullied is the kid's fault for what he was wearing/carrying, then it's not a difficult jump to a rape victim in revealing clothing asking for it.)

[TheHuckster]

OK, so now the school is officially guilty of bullying themselves. ( after all, they brought in a rule specifically to cover the kid)

Also, to be blunt? bullies will bully just about anyone, on the flimsiest of excuses. I was bullied because (I think- I could never be quite sure) I like to read, rather than do various stupid crap most of the other kids liked to do ( this is not during lessons, before anyone mentions it) By this schools' logic, i should have been forced to do what the other kids were doing.

That's very true. Many bullies are pretty much equal-opportunity. If you're at all vulnerable and different in any way, they'll come after you. I had similar issues due to my "nerdy" nature growing up, although I'll admit, I never was truly "bullied" in the sense that I was emotionally affected by whatever teasing came my way. I had my circle of friends, and they were really all that mattered to me.

[Rageaholic]

In a way, the school is creating a "bully culture", forcing the victim to change their behavior instead of the bullies. I wonder what happens when the bullies find something else to pick on the kid over. Maybe the teachers will get a clue and focus on the actions of the bullies, not the kid.

[s_stabeler]

nope. they'll label the kid a troublemaker, and hound him his entire time at the school. ( speaking from experience)

[bex1218]

I was bullied cause I wore sports stuff and Dragon Ball Z shirts. Back then I was vulnerable. Now I just say fuck it, I am comfortable in my own skin. I'm still not over it after a decade, but its getting better.

[Rageaholic]

nope. they'll label the kid a troublemaker, and hound him his entire time at the school. ( speaking from experience)

Fuck.

You're probably right.

[DGoddess]

Reminds me of my childhood. "Well, maybe you'd fit in better if you didn't act so weird."

Yep, that sound familiar . . .

Sounds to me like the principal is taking the classic chickenshit route . . . blame the victim rather than actually deal with the bullies (and their parents.)

I agree with the child's mother: it's the same logic applied to rape victims - ie, if you didn't wear that short skirt, you wouldn't have been attacked.:

Just totally wrong. Bullies will look for any reason, no matter how trivial, to pick on others. They do it basically because they can.

I was bullied in elementary school for no other reason than because I was white and the kids were a bunch of little black thug wanna bes who had no home training. Even the principal (who was also black) told my Mom in front of me that I was making up the accusations b/c I was white and the kids were all black.

Mom not only went to the school board and filed a grievance against the principal, she also requested to have me sent to another school . . . and the only school they'd let her transfer me to required HER to provide my transport to and from , which being a single parent working 2 (sometimes 3) jobs at the time, wasn't feasible in the least. So I got stuck at the horrible school for another year and a half before I finally got out and went into middle school.

Seems as if these folks who are in charge of educating our children still have that mentality - let's force the victim to change their life instead of dealing with the root of the problem (ie, send the bullies out of the school and to another school that's equipped to handle them) b/c they don't have the schools now that are set up to deal with disciplinary problems. Which in turn they don't have b/c of budget crunches all over the place (ie, not enough money for the schools means they have to pick and choose where the money they do get can be spent where it will do the most good, which is another topic in itself.)

But at the end of the day, the final responsibility lies with the parents actually raising their kids to not be bullies in the first place. And we all know how well that works . . .

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

The Machiavellian part of me says, keep the backpack at home and then sue the pants off the district when the bullying doesn't stop.

To be fair, my experience in school was reading Star Trek books and getting picked on for it to the point I would not be caught dead reading recreationally after the age of about 12. And this was a fairly preppy school so it's not like I was the only one who read.