A recent topic in the news has gotten a lot of attention lately. This particular topic struck a chord with me. I was bullied in school when I was younger. (I still recall a particular incident when I broke my finger and had trouble carrying things due to the splint. A classmate took all my books out of my hands and threw them to the floor, knowing it would be hard for me to pick them up. She left the room laughing.) Kids can be cruel. Let’s face it, adults can be cruel, too! But we have something now we didn’t have in the 80’s: anti-bullying policies. The concept is nice, in theory: kids bully others, and the school has an action plan to punish them accordingly. And, you trust the school to protect those who are victim to the bullies. Or can you?
Enter into this a school in North Carolina. Anti-bullying rules are in place. Grayson, a sweet 9 year old boy, shows his love for “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” by getting a Rainbow Dash backpack. His classmates answered by making fun of him for his love for a “girly” show. (And any self respecting “Brony” would argue this one. Adolescent/teen boys and adult men are the biggest audience of the show! This reboot of MLP is not the show of my generation’s youth.) And the abuse was not just verbal, although he did get suggestions to “go home and kill yourself”. Grayson was also physically abused. So, of course, the school responded by punishing the bullies, right? Wrong.
The school councilor responded by asking Grayson to “hide it” because it was a “trigger for bullying”. Finally it was decided by the principal that Grayson needed to leave the backpack home.
(More about Grayson’s story on the news here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/03/18/my-little-pony-backpack-banned-school-north-carolina/6565425/?csp=fbfanpage)
Does this sound familiar? The victim brought it on himself to their logic. I guess just like a rape victim encouraged her rape by wearing sexy clothing? The problem is this encourages the bullies that they had a REASON to bully other kids. That it’s not their fault, anyone would hit a boy for having a My Little Pony backpack. It teaches them that all they need to do to force others to their likes and wishes is to bully them. As someone who suffered at the hands of other kids’ word and actions, this made me angry. As a parent, it made me furious. My 18 year old son is a big MLP fan. To even think of him being punished as being the cause of the bullying, while the bullies get away with it, makes me furious.
Some of the news articles make me even more angry. Comments abound by obvious trolls. Instead of supporting the child, they blame the mom for “letting him get the backpack”. Obviously, you get even more comments stating that the kid needs to learn to like football instead of a “girl’s show.”
The school needs to take a step back, at this point, and re-evaluate their anti-bullying stance. This could have been a perfect way to show the kids that bullying was wrong. Using the bullies as an example would have shown the kids very clearly that if you bully, you will be punished…no exceptions. And it could have been a good experience to show how everyone has different likes and tastes, and that is okay! It makes everyone special. The sad part is this show puts emphasis on friendship, and perhaps if the bullies had watched it (instead of some of the more violent or snarky shows on today), the bullying might never have taken place at all!
Want to show support for Grayson and the love his favorite TV show? Join the over 35,000 followers on Facebook! It’s amazing the outpouring of love that has been shown online, and even some military guys have shown support through YouTube! https://www.facebook.com/SupportForGrayson
