My Little Pony is back in the news once again, and this time, the news is not good. 9 year-old Grayson Bruce is a fan of the popular geeky/nerdy show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. And what he wears to school is causing some controversy. Grayson wears a Rainbow Dash backpack to and from school. Usually, you would think girls would wear a backpack like this. But remember, this is a very popular show with a giant fandom following. After starting to wear the backpack, kids started to bully Grayson. And Grayson got so tired of being picked on at school he told his mother. And the mom went to school officials to have them stop the bullying. What happens next is causing a lot of talk.
School officials told Grayson and his mother to not wear the Rainbow Dash backpack and it was no longer welcome at the school. At the same time, they did not address the bullying problems at the school. They only released a statement saying “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.” So, the bullies get a slap on the risk while the one being bullied is punished. This is exactly like my own childhood where I was bullied by siblings and other kids, I was punched, kicked, and even tied to chairs. I told teachers, police officers, and other adults about what was going on, and I was punished, this story sounds too familiar.
My Little Pony is a cartoon that emphasizes to children that “friendship is magic.” And because of the great animation, writing, and storytelling, the cartoon has a huge adult following. The cartoon is currently one of the highest ranked cartoons adults watch! And a story like this is disturbing in so many ways. For one, why are the bullies not being punished? In a realistic world, the bullies would be the ones who would get in trouble and are punished. While the ones who were bullied can breathe easier because someone stepped in to stop the madness. The school is basically saying that bullying is welcome at their school, and if you can not tolerate bullying, get out of their school.
I found this comment from another site, and it shows the disturbing thoughts from some people in our country. The comment reads “I think he doesn’t have a father in the picture to teach him masculine from feminine. A rainbow pony? Give me a break! Of course he is going to get bullied! When I was growing up he would have had the **** kicked out of him! Oh yeah that’s right they don’t allow toy guns anymore. That backpack is like carrying a Barbie doll or a sign that says I am a **** beat me. Get him a GI Joe or Spiderman backpack and burn that fruity my little pony, maybe he’ll grow to be a man rather than a pansy!” Really?
Bullying has grown into epidemic proportions in this country. Things are so bad, some kids are resorting to plastic surgery to remove any odd features that triggered the bullying. I get tired of hearing kids being banned from doing things or trying to take their own lives because they were bullied in school. Schools all across the country must do something to end the bullying! And I thought America was a free country? There is nothing wrong with a My Little Pony backpack. It’s better than what some other kids are into, Hunger Games anyone? I thought everyone in America was allowed to show their freedom of expression, unless it was offensive. And let me tell you, My Little Pony is not offensive, not even close!
This story has blown up so much, Glenn Beck talked about this story on his radio show. A school counselor should not say to anyone that you can’t bring a Rainbow Dash backpack and when you carry things like that “these things happen.” Instead, the bullies should be punished! The boy likes to be different, and the school has basically said that the boy must conform to what everyone else likes to do. That is wrong! It’s almost like a school telling me to quit drawing roads on my own paper because no one else does it.
The school is encouraging Grayson to hide who he is, and in the video below, Glenn says it’s okay to be different! I normally don’t agree on what Glenn Beck says, but I agree 100% with what he says here!
With so much national attention against this school, I hope the school will change! You can sign a Change.org petition to force the school to change their policy by clicking here. You can also like the Support for Grayson Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/SupportForGrayson. I hope Grayson and Michael (update below) will both appear at a con like BronyCon this Summer. My Little Pony has not had some good news in the recent weeks, it’s time the fandom got some good news again! You can also show your support for Grayon by using the hashtag #Standwithgrayson.
#standwithgrayson 'nuff said.
— Lauren Faust and Furious (@Fyre_flye) March 18, 2014
Wouldn’t it be awesome if one of the upcoming cons had Grayson as a Special Guest? I want to meet that kid! #StandWithGrayson
— Meghan McCarthy (@MMeghanMcCarthy) March 19, 2014
I also wanted to send out a update on this story. A few weeks ago, many sites including Geek Alabama talked about how a boy tried to commit suicide because he was bullied. The boy was bullied because 11 year-old Michael Morones liked My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The good news is Michael is awake! Here are two videos showing Michael and his progress.
Remember, Michael has a LONG WAY to go in his recovery. The family still does not know if Michael will fully recover from his injuries. Michael has thousands of supporters and every supporter hopes Michael makes a full recovery from his injuries. You can keep up with the progress from Michael Morones and donate money by going to: http://www.michaelmorones.org/. You can also follow along with updates on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/TeamMichaelMorones and on Twitter @MichaelMorones.
I also wanted to share this picture from the Deviant Art account TexasUberAlles. I hope Michael fully recovers, you can do it!
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