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.
I found nothing in your response, also.
Advocating intimidation is the mindset of a punk who for whatever reason carries around enormous anger. Feel bad for folks who feel so weak and stepped on in their own past that they feel the need to go after someone for reasons that only they know.
“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.”
Haha! Post of the year!
My thoughts exactly - his statement has “Lord of the Flies” written all over it.
Jesus said that the meek and persecuted are Blessed.
Exactly - which is why we have a dearth of Western culture. Classical music and art should be encouraged in boys, but public school boys will mock boys who are gifted and artistic. I've seen first-hand a boy being relentlessly bullied all through school because he could sing and perform in drama.
Thankfully, church can be a haven for boys like that.
I remember that book!
Nine-year olds are gay? It is Asheville, so anything is possible. As a mother of a son, I never would have given him a My Little Pony backpack to take to school. And it is odd there is no mention of his father.
I was a “tom boy” when I was little. My neighborhood was full of boys so I had to be if I wanted to play. Loved sports, especially football. For my ninth birthday, I asked my mom for a football uniform (so did my younger brother) and she got it for me. Played with the guys all the time. I do remember checking books out from the school library about football and hiding them under my school books so other girls wouldn’t make fun of me. I still “liked” boys but it just seemed boys had more fun than girls who played with dolls.
No one should be bullied but they will be. Punish the bulliers, not the bullied. But I still would not encourage my son to bring a MLP backpack to school. Wonder where the father is?
My thought process on bullying is this; Its overrated.
Sure, there are instances where it is wrong. Every single jibe by a child to another is not to be labled as bullying.
The whole anti-bullying movement, in my opinion, is right along the lines of every-child-gets-a-trophy philosophy, which is a wrong approach. Every child must earn a trophy and the best child should be recognized. The children that lose don’t get a trophy. They lost... they must try harder next time.
Thats called life.
Life sucks.
Life is cruel.
Life will chew you up and spit you out.
Wanna win at life? Want a trophy? Try hard. Work hard.
Now, even when we work hard, we might still lose. There are setbacks. There are cheaters. Those who cheat are wrong. They should be punished for cheating. But sometimes they are not and that is life. We must overcome anyway and continue forward.
Bullying and children jibing each other has been happening for 500,000 years. A “movement” is not going to stop it. A commercial with a bunch of celebrities cannot stop what children do and have been doing since the dawn of man. That “movement” only confirms the child’s victimhood.
I propose making the child stronger... to stand up to bullies... to laugh back at them instead. You’re not going to stop it. All playground taunting is not bullying. Some of it is just children being children. Children need a thick enough skin because, guess what.... life is not going to get any easier in the future.
Letting the child carry a My Little Pony bag is like throwing a steak into a pack of wild dogs. What do you think they will do?
Now, at this point, the parents need to say NO. Its not smart. If the child insists then warn that child... ‘you will be made fun of if you do that’.
Mabye the child is courageous and wants to do it knowing full well he will be made fun of. If so, I commend him. But if he does it knowing full well he will be made fun of then cries because he was made fun of, that’s tough luck.
People are mean, especially children. Its called ‘life’. Pick yourself up and keep going.
BTW I do not advocate picking on someone that cannot help their situation, like someone that is disabled. There should always be punishment for that. But every single “he hurt my feelings” is not grounds for a ‘movement’.
Oh, you wont believe this. Glenn Beck is now announcing he stands in SOLIDARITY with ‘bronies’ everywhere! He is actually putting My Little Pony stuff in his studio and behaving like a lib. Cannot believe people are still buying his crap.
This was a slightly more reasonable post. The whole everyone is a winner mantra is stupid.
Bullying kids who are different than the “cool” group is different.
Taunting I understand even though I would discourage my mis from doing it.
Getting physical with someone different is the mark of a total ahole.
Reading some of these posts is disheartening. How can anyone defend picking on a kid for liking a TV show?
How can anyone defend picking on a kid for liking a TV show?
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See post 88. Excellent commentary. And other posts by myself and others support bullying.
Does that makes us mean, cruel bullies ourselves? By no means. We simply see Society correcting a child and setting him or her on a path to being a healthy happy adult as a normal thing to do. Its not always easy or fun. Sometimes there will be insults and tears; but the results are worth it.
Kids should be pressured to conform to groupthink? Every one must like the same TV shows, the same music, the same movies? And do what everybody else does? Kids who have cooties must just learn to not have cooties? I don’t think that’s a conservative position at all.
Groupthink? Cooties? Is that what you think our kids are up against today ?
No, not hardly. They are being indoctrinated by leftists, and our conservative efforts to fight that agenda is labeled as bullying.
Probably a good idea to avoid further embarrassment.
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