Forums » Smalltalk » How... I MEAN HOW!?

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2014/03/20140317-180541.html It's about something that happened in North Carolina but how do the schools justify not punishing the bullies and further more punishing the victim... I know what bullies are like and it just upsets and at the same time angers me that a school could do somethin like that. If you don't wanna/can't read the article I will post it to you if wanted or post back a short version here but it is just wrong.

This is ridiculous he's 9 years old he should be allowed to like whatever he wants to like >.<

I'm quite angry about this. Telling the boy not to wear his MLP backpack because it triggers bullying is pretty much telling the bullies "Don't worry, beating and ridiculing this kid is okay. It's his fault you assaulted him, you did nothing wrong."

Treat the bullies, don't tell the victim it's their fault.

Yeah I saw that on a facebook sidebar thing and decided to post it up. The biggest problem is he can't bring something he likes to school without problems and the school blames the victim. x.x

That's ridiculous. And people wonder why kids are so screwed up these days when they never give them any consequences for their actions. Should suspend the bullies, not punish this kid for liking MLP. He's 9, for crying out loud. When I was 9 I loved Power Rangers and Godzilla (I still love Godzilla) and never had any issues, media doesn't do any favors either by aiming too-adult programming at young age groups either. For that matter, the parent's don't help by letting their kids watch it as the media is profit driven. Anyways, getting off my soap box now. I find this personally frustrating is all and working in a law enforcement related job, I get to see (and deal with) people's poor parenting and these bullies when they become teenagers and can't behave like civilized human beings.

North Carolina might have good barbeque sauce and spawn pretty rad comedians, but this is asinine. My view may he skewed slightly from being a huge MLP fan, but I can't even form words to describe this. I have lost faith in Southern America - and Kansas (where I live) takes its cues from the south.

Rectifying an issue? Please. Ya'll people just don't want to face up that you've got what you think amounts to a homosexual in your class rooms. I'm not saying the entire state/region is like that, and he's got some sweet support behind him, but we can do better than this, Amurica.

why .. thats so mean. back when criptica was in highschool she did her black lipstick . will she drew lines to her ears and made it in to a smile she then put lines threw it to make it look like stitches . they pull edher in to the office and asked if she did drugs

society is only made for those who believe in it ..

no one should be bullied .. it is not right

criptica went to a homeschool school and was bullied pretty bad to the point where they spit on her. one guy trying to get her attention he threw rocks at her she ignored him cause who does that. he provoked her pretty bad to the point of where she was going to hit him. she ended up hitting a post and it hurt her hand. but a nine year ..

leave your back pack at home. i don't think so. they shouldn't have to conform . because the bullies are mean who wants to be the bullies or like them

i am sure if you ask crip she has some good stories bout things that went on ..... . i can see if she could do a post about bullies and what she went threw ... that if any one has any bulling problems talk to her ... she could help. people were pretty mean to her

MMMM THE SMELL OF THE PATRIARCHY IN THE MORNING, reminding me that westernized society is a steaming cess pool of ball-sweat.

This is exactly why we need feminism, because men are just as oppressed as women by the typical gender binary. It will never cease to amaze me how insecure people are about the defense of imagined "masculinity" that they're willing to let a child get harassed all in the name of saving face, to make sure that the sanctity of maleness isn't being challenged by a little boy's preference in cartoons.

I love how strongly insecure men will defend their heterosexuality like it's their livelihood, and the women who have so much internalized misogyny and/or fear that they allow it.

Did you know you can be something other than a gender stereotype? I know, it's a very difficult concept to grasp.

SORRY FOR RANTINg I just really can't say enough about this particular brand of lunacy

I use to watch girl shows at his age, I had no real care about what people thought was girly and what was for boys. And the bullies targeted this nine year old because he was nine and not strong, If he was 16 and was wearing that backpack would they bully him? No because they know they would get the crap kicked out of them (though that is not the answers, Sometimes bullies and principal's need to have their brains knocked back into place) And the main issue id the parents and the principal's. The parents who think that their kid is The perfect kid who does no wrong and is next to Jesus Christ himself in terms of perfection, NO! Thats not how it works! Kids are very imperfect and its because they are still learning, But by not teaching them that their will be consequences for their actions they will think they can get away with anything. These bullies need to understand that they have two options, Benefit Society, Or hold back Society, To be that person who is loved and cared for, Or that person who no one cried when you died because you were such a low life scum! Im sorry if I aound harsh but I am sick of it. And its not always the parents I know, But I am only 15 years old and I know several things I know more about running a school than this principal, And thats sad. If I lived near this kid I would walk to his school and talk to these bullies, No not in a threatening way, But showing them that people have a freedom to pick what they like. Its why we are given the power to chose! rather than being an animal or incest who dont have a choice really, Humans are blessed with the ability to choose! And if we qre discouraged by it we loose something as humans, I would like to come out on this note, I LIKE MLP! I think its great and its characters are great and I can see why so many people get sucked into it, But what bugs me is Girls can like Halo and Call of Duty, "Boys" games and not be teased for it, Yet boys get teased for MLP? Bullcrap! I call shinaniganz!

On the note of feminism, there are extremes there aswell. But that's not the point here, It's how schools are run today, the victim is to blame. Chris yes MLP is amazing but it's percieved as less manly and thus not cool and yes 16 year olds would be bullied sadly I was bullied all the way up through the year my grandma died because I didn't stand up for myself cause it only got me in more trouble. I am not saying any of this is the right thing but it is what goes on.

As with every group, there are extremists. But these "radfems" as they're often referred to, do not really embody the soul of the movement which is all inclusive. Radfems are exclusatory and do not consider transwomen and non-binary people as part of their agenda, and are more the type to advocate for women's superiority rather than equality.

That being said, they're fairly rare to encounter, as 3rd wave feminism is tailored to include all gender identity's, religions and races.

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I'm sorry, this is too much to take in at one time. Excuse me while I crumble and burn a piece of paper labeled "faith in society". -_-

Oh my god, if you weren't already my favourite person on the internet, you certainly are now.

It is definitely the case here that a boy liking girly things is being labeled as the main reason for bullying. It happens a lot, although more and more parents of our generation seem to speak up and preach tolerance and avoid gender roles.

But I don't think it's good to make the need for feminism the main topic here (I also don't like the word feminism. It still puts a divider between genders. I prefer just calling it equality!). What's happening is that the school, instead of actively treating ANY form of bullying (MLP backpack, being fat, being tall, being short), blames the victim for provoking the bullying. It's not just limited to a MLP backpack, it's a general attitude that is strongly present in society. We're teaching people to stop standing out to avoid being mugged, raped, bullied and denied basic rights, rather than teaching people to be tolerant and stop treating people poorly.

I was bullied all my school life for being 'fat', even though I was always just really tall. I look back to photos of myself as a kid and am puzzled as to why I thought I was fat - I didn't gain a lot of weight until my late teens. I was always told to lose weight, to ignore the bullies and to just put up with it. That never helped me in any way. Bullies were not punished for their behavior. Bullies were told "Please don't do this", but then nothing.

We can have all the feminism we want, but that will not stop bullying. Bullying will stop when we stop telling the victims to deal with it and avoid being bullied, and start taking action against bullies and their parents. This can be anything from figuring out why bullies bully (usually they're victims themselves!!) and ensuring they understand that there are consequences to their actions.

wat

Edit: How did we jump from bully reform to gender equality? I understand your view but that doesn't encompass what we are talking about.

Second edit: Sorry if that came off harshly, I didn't mean it to, that was just out of left field.

The schools are failing just as much as they did when I was in elementary school when it comes to bullying and parents are part of the problem. On one field trip when I was in grade school, my dad witnessed another parent making fun of a student along with her daughter. My dad was pretty disgusted and I believed he told her off.

I was also a victim of bullying partly because I had a speech problem. To give a very brief explanation I was treated like a disease instead of a person. I of course was given frequent visits to the school counselor as she would pull me out of class which honestly didn't help although she was a very nice person. I was given the old "just ignore them and it will stop" rubbish that didn't actually work and I don't believe any of those bullies actually faced any consequences.

Unfortuantly, schools have a lot of trouble dealing with it and a lot of that comes from the parents. If a praent's actions teaches their child that it is ok to bully others, then there is not a whole lot that the schools can do about it as the parents will take the child's side. Not that I am saying that the school's shouldn't do anything, just that the parents can a key role in this.

That saying, I think the zero tolerence rules are a piece of crap. If someone decides to get psychical with you andf you try to defend yourself, boom you are both suspended. It's stupid, I mean you can use a reasonable amount force to defend yourself from violent aggressors in the real world, but not at school.

And yet, children face criminal charges for writing that they love their friends on desks, eating a poptart in a "gun" L-shape, or a little boy kissing a little girl on the cheek.

It sooorta does, fella. There's this really perception that boys and girls have to like a very narrow set of boy and girl things, and being banned from bringing his MLP bag to school absolutely is catering to these entrenched belief systems. I think it's a fair point to make that the kid was being punished not only by bullies but by the administration as well for liking something "girly," and that absolutely falls into the scope of gender roles and issues.

I absolutely agree, but it's such a small part of a bigger issue.

This wasn't meant to become a feminism arguement... This poor boy is being punished for being bullied for liking a rather amazing show that teaches good things. I figured I'd share it is why I posted this but I kind of feel like it might spiral. x.x