In every grade school class there is that one girl who develops way ahead of the pack. She's the envy of some, the nightmare of others, and an easy target for bullies. And for one sixth grade girl in Missouri, the bullying got really out of control when it started coming from her school administrators who told the 13-year-old to get a breast reduction!
Well, the school got one thing right -- something needs to be done about the boobs. And by that I mean the administrators who would dare tell a child that their body is the problem.
What's next? Telling the overweight girl that she needs to take up an eating disorder so people will leave her alone? Or maybe the schools will start requiring plastic surgery for the kid with the port wine stain?
Or, you know, we could just tell the bullies where to shove it.
Sigh. I wish I could re-write this story for this poor girl, that school administrators would have done their jobs and told the kids picking on her breasts to grow up.
But for some reason this "blame the victim" mentality seems to be entrenched in schools all across this country. It's not just the boobs in the Riverview Gardens School District. A mom recently related that her son was being called a gay slur by his classmates. The school's response? They told her to cut her son's hair.
This is just what the bullies want -- they want to make life harder for their victims, and when districts turn on the kids who are being wronged, they're playing right into their hands. This poor girl is simply growing. She can't help that. But in telling her to get a breast reduction, the school is trying to make science and nature the bad guy here instead of the kids who need to learn some compassion.
Is it any wonder kids are bullies? We still have adults who work with kids and who find it acceptable to treat kids as if their naturally developing bodies are a problem. Until the adults change, this is not going to stop!
Have you dealt with a "blame the victim" issue in your district? What happened?
Image via Dennis Vu Photography for Unleashed Media/Flickr
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Comments 84
So Rhonda, if she were in 7th grade it would be okay for her to be bullied about this?
Flashback time for me too... I started my period at age 9 and had a c-cup in 6th grade, and I wasn't overweight either, just developed early. I was bullied horribly by both boys and girls. It was the early 70's back then, so the schools didn't do a thing about it. I'm hopeful that more schools are better about it nowadays... athough this report shows theres still a long ways to go, sadly.
Even if she wanted a breast reduction, who's going to pay for it? The school or the bullies?
School Administrators pulling stunts like this is nothing new. Flashback time for me as well (although I did not and still am not what somebody could call well endowed!). I was bullied horribly in high school and when I approached the administration about my problems I was told I was just going to make it worse for myself by going to them! There are bullies in every generation who will hurt people for all sorts of reasons and that is what has to stop!