I’ve seen kids get bullied for lesser things. Don’t be naive. |
A boy who wears a tutu to middle school is deliberately inviting the teasing. He wants the confrontation. |
That's the point a bunch of us are trying to make. Kids are bullied for anything and everything, if bullies want to bully. NOT wearing the tutu won't prevent it and it's honestly possible wearing the tutu will, since bullies are more likely to target people they think are squashable or vulnerable. I was bullied in middle school. I don't think attempting to help your child conform when they don't want to isn't the answer some of you think it is. If they're *asking* for advice on conforming or being cool, that's one thing, but if they want to stand out it's different. |
Hi OP! I think I know of the teen you are posting about. Does he attend Longfellow middle school in McLean? |
Yes, I have. Two, in fact. |
Does it violate the Dress Code? If not, then let it go if it's not your child.
Would I let our boy or girl child wear one (not on a spirit day)? Nope. |
Who cares? Why do you care? Why does anyone care? It's not going to change his gender identity or sexual orientation or make his penis fall off. It's his choice and no one else's business. |
This. A self-confident kid wearing what makes them comfortable, surrounded by like-minded peers, is actually less vulnerable to bullying than the kid trying desperately to be cool but not quite getting it right. |
Then why invite it? You’re saying to encourage it. |
Tell that to a school full of kids. |
I'm assuming the kid was wearing clothes under the tutu, right?
If it's someone else's kid, I wouldn't really care one way or the other. If it was my kid, we might have a conversation about why he wants to wear it, and I'd absolutely remind him that school rules still apply, and he doesn't get to cause a disruption in class by his clothes or behavior. |
It certainly is others business when it is disruptive. |
Schools get to enforce dress codes. |
If a boy in my kid's class was doing this, I'd make sure they know about how to help others stand up to bullying. In case it happens.
I would tell my own kids (both genders) that I do not want them wearing something so flamboyant too school. They are well aware of our family's academic standards, and that I will enforce rules on anything I think will deter from it. |
Invite what? Bullying? I promise you, attempting to dress a middle schooler in what their parent thinks is cool but appropriate for middle schoolers is not going to discourage a bully. Among other things, wearing a tutu means the victim of bullies (assuming the child is bullied since you seem to consider this inevitable) is controlling what they are attacked with. Middle school me much preferred to be teased for my penchant for long skirts instead of say my weight or my fondness of "boy" things like math and technical theater. I don't know this child's situation at all but I do think that they are making a conscious choice about their clothing and I (as a parent) wouldn't fight them on that, provided their tutu was weather-appropriate and didn't violate the school dress code. |