School bans boy from using ‘My Little Pony’ bag, says it ‘triggers’ bullying
A mother and her 9-year-old son say school officials won't let him bring a My Little Pony bag to school.
The boy and his mother say he's getting shoved around because bullies think his pick of a favorite toy is for girls.
It's a decades-old kids show where pony characters emphasize the bonds of friendship.
It's become anything but friendship for 9-year-old Grayson Bruce.
Grayson Bruce, My Little Pony fan, "they're taking it a little too far, with punching me, pushing me down, calling me horrible names, stuff that really shouldn't happen."
Grayson picked a Rainbow Dash bag out this year, which he says has intensified the attacks against him.
Grayson, "most of the characters in the show are girls, and most of the people put it toward girls, most of the toys are girlie, and surprisingly I found stuff like this." Read more...
My initial reaction to this was the thought that this is a terrible shotgun reaction by the school. You would think that a place of education might actually do what it is meant to do and educate. Explain how My Little Pony isn't girly or gay. Teach on how bullying is bad. Educate on how to handle being bullied. I mean, really, anything would be better than just banning something. Unless this really is just a temporary measure they've put in place to relieve the initial bullying, then fine, but if that's how they are telling Grayson to address his hobby, then shame on them. (Update: After school officials and Grayson's mom had a meeting to discuss this, it turns out that the school has decided to lift the ban. In addition to this, the school will include a parent advisory council on bullying. Good on them, but some of the damage has already been done.)
A little history: I like My Little Pony. Am I a "Brony"? It would honestly be a stretch to call myself one, but if I really did watch the show as much as my daughters do, then sure, I would not hesitate to call myself a Brony. I like the show. The animation is top-notch, the stories are sweet, and there is some adult humor thrown in there at times. It reminds me a lot of The Powerpuff Girls; the thick lines, colorful palette, and huge eyes.
I watched the documentary Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony when it first came out on Netflix. It's a rather interesting phenomenon. After watching the doc, I still find it difficult to understand why boys and adult men love My Little Pony that much, but I'm okay with that. I'm certainly not going to knock them for their obsession. Afterall, I believe my love for cute anime girls and things like Kyary Pamyu Pamyu are looked at with tilted heads, too, but I accept that.
And that's where the bigger story is around Grayson Bruce, or any boy or adult who loves MLP. A certain community is already gathering around this boy who wants him to do things like "stay strong" and "be proud" and "don't let anybody change you." All of which are good messages, but there should be more to that.
Grayson needs to be told that you're going to go through your entire life meeting people who do not like the same things you like. That sometimes a few of those people will get upset at you for not understanding why you might like something. That people will judge you or verbally insult you. And when all is said and done, you just need to be the bigger person and not care what they think. I know this is a hard pill to swallow for a 9-year-old, but it's a fact of life.
Am I ashamed of my love for anime? No, but that's the easy part. Do people judge me for having anime figures on my desk at work? Absolutely. Do I care what they think? Hell no. Not addressing that last question is what gets kids like Grayson in trouble when they become older. They either let the fear of being judged consume them, which might lead them to something as far as suicide, like the sad story of Michael Morones. Or, they fight back, which could lead to severe social awkwardness and, at worst, violence.
While doing a little more research on this, I came across Glenn Beck this morning talking about this story on his show. Reserve your judgments on the guy when you watch this because he makes exactly the same point I'm trying to make here.
"When people are saying celebrate diversity, they're lying to you. That's all about political correctness, and mom and dad will teach that to you later, but that's all that is. I'm telling you right now, real diversity means sometimes people are going to pick on you; sometimes people are going to make fun of you. But a real man is the one who says 'I don't really care,' and that's really hard to do."
He's right. Forget all that B.S. about celebrating diversity and being prideful of yourself. "It gets better" is one of the biggest cons I've ever heard. That doesn't help anybody. Not giving two sh*ts about what other people think about you is what really matters.
But it doesn't end there. Don't go spending your life hating everyone and everything. Find those like-minded people. Join online forums. Go to BronyCon. Attend comic book conventions. Be a part of the community that understands you and that you feel a part of. Then life will start getting better. People walk to a convention through a bustling city in full cosplay and get those looks. They get pointed at. They are judged and they are ridiculed. You know what? They could care less. When they ignore those people, walk into that convention, and get around the people who love the same things they do, at that moment, their lives could not get any more perfect.
Grayson, my message to you is, yes, keep loving whatever it is that you love. However, just know that sometimes it's not going to be easy. In fact, it might even get worse now that you have national attention. What you need to do is stop caring about what other people think. It's not a big deal. If you are being physically bullied, get an adult. Maybe even learn some self-defense tactics. It's likely you won't need to use them though because, before you know it, you'll be out of that hell we all call junior high and high school. You'll start to be around people who know better than to put you down for something that you enjoy.
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