Posted on 03/14/2014 10:40:04 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WRIC)—A North Carolina mother whose son has been bullied for bringing a “My Little Pony” bag to class says school officials now won’t let him bring the bag to school.
Grayson Bruce is a big fan of “My Little Pony,” a cartoon that emphasizes to children that “friendship is magic.” But his interest has caused the 9-year-old to be bullied at school; his classmates say his favorite toy is for girls.
“They’re taking it a little too far, with punching me, pushing me down, calling me horrible names, stuff that really shouldn’t happen,” Bruce told WLOS News13, an ABC affiliate in Asheville, N.C. “Most of the characters in the show are girls, and most of the people put it toward girls, most of the toys are girlie.”
Noreen Bruce supports her son’s love of the show saying, “It’s promoting friendship, there [are] no bad words, there’s no violence; it’s hard to find that, even in cartoons now.”
Grayson even has his own following on Facebook, after a friend created a support page for him. Profile pictures of a gray pony with glasses and the message “<3 for Grayson” are circulating on Facebook.
Last week, Grayson’s school asked him to leave his Rainbow Dash bag at home, because officials felt it was a distraction and a “trigger for bullying.”
Noreen Bruce disagrees with the school’s request and wants her son’s bullies to be punished for their actions.
“Saying a lunchbox is a trigger for bullying is like saying a short skirt is a trigger for rape,” she said. “It’s flawed logic; it doesn’t make any sense.”
Buncombe County Schools declined an interview with WLOS News13 but said in a statement, “an initial step was taken to immediately address a situation that had created a disruption in the classroom. Buncombe County Schools takes bullying very seriously, and we will continue to take steps to resolve this issue.”
Grayson Bruce isn’t the only North Carolina “Brony”—a popular term used to describe male “My Little Pony” fans—to make headlines for being bullied about his interest in the show. In January, 11-year-old Michael Morones, of Wake County, tried to commit suicide because he was tormented at school for his love of “My Little Pony.” Morones hung himself off the side of his bunk bed.
“Eleven to 15-year-old boys are very much at risk for thinking about suicide when they’re perceived as being gay,” bullying prevention expert Nancy Mullin told WTVD.
According to ABC affiliate WTVD in Raleigh, Morones has been moved out of the intensive care unit at WakeMed; he will eventually be transported to a facility that can assist with brain trauma and neurological rehabilitation.
“The missing piece here is what the school is doing about this,” Mullin said, adding that while North Carolina is one of 49 states with bullying prevention laws, she doesn’t feel enough is being done to implement successful programs.
The New MLP is kinda interesting as it isn’t so saccrinely sickly sweet like most pandering kids shows...
And there are some decent male role models onthe show, it isn’t like past cartoons where the world depicted was akin to some sorta amazonia feminist dream.
There is Spike, Big Mac, and a bunch of other Positive male role models and one of the main cast admires a pony names “Starswirl the Bearded” who is a male pony wizerd in the vein of gandolf and dumbledore.
The show is about female ponies mainly but it doesn’t seem to denigrate the male ponies that live in the same universe either. The main cast ponies are also not children they are young adults as well.
I think it’s appeal is that it isn’t another kids show where they hopelessly pander to the idealized helpless sugary sweek kid thing that adults in children’s programming tend to pander to.
It is like how the new star wars movies failed to connect because they wanted to connect to young children by using a young kid, young kids WANT to be an older than themselves Luke Skywalker, not the petulent child that is Anakin Skywalker. Because seeing themselves as the older cooler brother is better than being a snot nosed brat the same age they are.
“its not like its standing up for Jesus...”
You realize if the kid had something Christian on his book bag no other kid would care. It would be the adults at the school having a hissy fit and bullying this kid.
You’re absolutely right that homeschooled kids bully other kids.
But they don’t do it day after day and drive other kids to suicide.
And you have to look at your statement again and ask if that’s really what you believe.
>No one should be picked on, period.
>And if the boy is gay, that is no excuse, because that’s no different than picking on a retarded kid.
A gay 9 year old? What is happening to this country?
Kid’s father is an Army Ranger, so that’s out. Two parent home. Mom’s got severe ADHD and other sensory issues related to autism.
Kid’s in the honor society too.
Dad races motorcycles, is in the NRA, staunch conservative, and Christian.
Sometimes its nature.
________________
My daughter has a variety of autism and she thinks she is transsexual.
Even the LGBT-QRSTs say that they notice female to male trans seem to be autistic.
Thought disorder?
In that case, he’d be making an excuse.
The mother’s argument is that it’s not an excuse.
Yup - like I said, my son’s older sisters bullied him (albeit mildly) into embarrassment about My Little Pony.
But he watched it on the sly and I don’t say anything.
He finally realized for himself that he didn’t really think it was a great show.
It takes an active parent to stop sibling bullying. When you homeschool, you have to really clamp down on it as much as you can because not getting along is not an option.
He’s nine. The die is cast. There will be no turning around his bullied, friendless status from this point on. He’s going to be marginalized and tortured from now till high school graduation.
It doesn’t matter how smart or creative or nice he is if you just got to know him. He’s been tried and convicted by the star chamber, and he’s got a geek rap sheet that can’t be expunged.
The mom and dad (where the hell is he?) must rescue this boy immediately from the Thunderdome and homeschool him. No amount of meetings or school edicts or parental intervention can save this boy from the hyenas. The weakest will be eaten alive. His parents need to get him out of there now.
I didn’t mean to pick on you in particular, I just see deviant sexual orientation as a mental illness. And I would never condone kids picking on someone that was retarded and thus would never condone someone picking on some kid who obviously needs help.
And you have to look at your statement again and ask if that’s really what you believe.
Here - again is my statement. And yes, I believe it.
Bullying (being picked on) serves a purpose. It sends a message to the weak, strange, anti-social, difficult, BRONY LOVING kids that their actions are not acceptable.
Sure, bullying can get out of hand, but on the average, being teased and laughed at (bullying - by today’s definition) is not a problem.
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If we look at an opposite argument, we see a total acceptance of boys being allowed to dress as girls and enter girls restrooms and locker rooms; girls taking female dates to proms; children being punished for drawing a picture of a gun; kids being denied to even mention God or have Christmas pagaents; yet being indoctrinated that homosexuality is natural and normal; and worse. Much worse.
Is this what you want for our kids today? I sure don't. So when kids have a natural normal reaction (AKA bullying) to abhor such perverse and unwholesome behavour then yeah. I'm all for it.
Take a My Little Pony M4A1 carbine with selectable 3-round burst to school and nobody will make fun of you.
http://www.glamguns.com/mylittleponycarbine.html
Hello Kitty AR-15 – Evil Black Rifle Meets Cute and Cuddly. These aren’t my pictures but I wanted to show them off his site so you’ll go to his site and enjoy the rest of his stuff.
This is a real weapon, made of real parts, and the owner shows it being fired on his blog page. I firmly believe that nothing exudes feminine beauty and love for the unannounced guest quite like a perforated liver created by a pink semiautomatic.
“So when kids have a natural normal reaction (AKA bullying) to abhor such perverse and unwholesome behavour then yeah. I’m all for it.”
What about the poorest kid at a rich kid’s school? His clothes are “perverse” (read: different) — so it’s okay in your book for kids to mock his Wal-mart jeans?
What about the girl with the leg brace whose sentence is exile by herself on a lunch bench, trying to choke down a peanut butter sandwich?
What about the boy who’s uncoordinated and picked last for kickball, which translates to picked last for everything? Is that a just punishment? After he’s bullied into understanding that his klutziness is “not acceptable,” just what do you propose he do with that information? Besides cultivate an intense hatred of school and other kids and the grown-ups who failed him that someday may culminate in another Columbine shooting?
Children are incapable of discerning “perverse” and “unwholesome.” That’s the job of adults. Children’s discernment stops at indiscriminate punishing of the different and the weak. They aren’t civilization-defending warriors — they are naturally cruel, selfish, and unfit to rule themselves or others. Ever read “Lord of the Flies?” That’s what you’re advocating.
I love that book!
As one of the “different” kids I agree with you 100%.
A surprising number of “adults,” including, unfortunately, quite a few teachers, coaches, etc. seem to obtain obvious vicarious pleasure from encouraging bullying of the “different” kids by the in-group.
Always suspect those who defend this type of behavior were bullies themselves, or possibly wannabees.
I can tell you that my kids grew up knowing I had less than zero tolerance for any behavior of this type by them.
A better way to think about ALL LBGTQQ issues may be synesthesia/dysphagia.
The most common example of synesthesia is seen in people who see the color red and test bananas. Seeing certain things makes their brain do other things.
Dysphagia is when your brain tells your finger to bend, and your eye shuts. Your brain tells your eye to open, and your toe starts to itch.
It’s more appropriate to look at this stuff on a scale than to look at it as a specific condition.
Fetishism, especially, is a form of dysphagia. Some people look at women’s shoes, for example, and it really affects them in all the ways you might imagine.
Some dysphagia can be conditioned through conditioning.
THANK YOU. My thoughts exactly.
LOL!!!
Good thing I wasn’t drinking anything.....
Apparently there are a fair number of military bronies. See: https://www.facebook.com/militarybronies for one example. There are others if you Google ‘military bronies.’
They aren’t all gay, or from fatherless homes, etc.
If this kid were my child, I would probably suggest he leave the bookbag at home, but let him watch the show or buy the ponies.
Not everything that’s not strictly masculine is gay, people.
It wasn’t the style that was offensive. It was the stupidity.
Provided good insight to your thought process, though, and your honesty was refreshing.
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