Clueless kids on bus

[Anonymous]

So you assume the impact in order to justify the label. By the same logic, anyone told by their peers they aren't talented enough for the all-star team has been bullied and will no doubt stop playing sports for years to come.

And, you don't think that is bullying? It is.

[Anonymous]

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Far cry from "bullying" though; unless that means any comment that potentially hurts someone's feelings.

I think that purposefully is the operative word in this case. That does qualify as bullying.

Exactly. These girls knew exactly what they were saying was hurtful and mean.

And you know this how? It's amusing how you think you can somehow discern what two little girls had in mind when you weren't even present when the conversation occurred. You just want to say mean things about the children who got into AAP.

"So my DS came home today and said that he had the distinct pleasure (not) of sitting behind two AAP 3rd grade girls who were crowing about the fact that they were in the "smart" classes at their center school. Apparently they were arguing with another girl, saying they were smarter than her because she is not in AAP."

What's amusing is your truly lame attempt at spinning the above scenario into something innocent and benign. I don't care if these kids are in AAP or not, what they said was flat-out mean. You also weren't there and yet you seem insistent on making this into a scene from Sesame Street. Grow up.

"Apparently..." And who knows exactly what was said to whom during the "arguing"?

Tell a better story next time. What's lame is your sad effort to craft a little vignette just so you can crap on AAP kids and create a flimsy predicate for your argument that AAP centers should be entirely eliminated.

You just keep right on denying what these kids said was wrong. It speaks volumes about you.

Kids argue. You need to get over yourself and not try to turn kids into villains because they got into AAP. Shame on you.

Oh for God's sake. Shame on you for not acknowledging that what these kids said was very rude and hurtful. I'm happy someone stepped in when they did. AAP is really the least of my concerns. I'd feel exactly the same way if kids were belittling another because she wasn't pretty enough, or athletic enough, or what have you. Get over yourself and try empathy one of these days.

So where are the posts harping on similar purported incidents in which one kid was bragging to another about his or her superior looks or athletic skills, with the poster labeling it "bullying," and calling upon an entire community to revamp programs and reach out to children to instill the values of kindness and eschew such comparisons?

If there are any, they pale in number to the steady supply of manufactured posts complaining about the alleged mistreatment of GenEd kids at the hands of "insufferable" and "crowing" AAP students. Your hypocrisy is utterly revolting.

Really? Again with the "manufactured posts"? What's revolting is your insistence that issues you would prefer to sweep under the rug be dismissed as "manufactured" or fiction. But if it's something that fits in with your particular world view, by all means, it must be the truth. Talk about hypocrisy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So you assume the impact in order to justify the label. By the same logic, anyone told by their peers they aren't talented enough for the all-star team has been bullied and will no doubt stop playing sports for years to come.

And, you don't think that is bullying? It is.

You must live in a world of infinite butthurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's bullying. Period. Are you going to be able to stop it? Probably not.

If it leaves long-lasting physical or psychological scars, its bullying. To be told by your peers that "you aren't smart enough" to belong to our special group that the school system picked us to be in, is bullying. This child no doubt will self-label as being less intelligent. That label will likely remain in her psyche for years to come until or unless she learns to rise above it.

So you assume the impact in order to justify the label. By the same logic, anyone told by their peers they aren't talented enough for the all-star team has been bullied and will no doubt stop playing sports for years to come.

Ridiculous.

I guess you've never had a daughter come home crying because she was told she's not pretty by peers and no longer wants to even look in the mirror. Or a son told he sucks at basketball, never want to play a sport involving balls again. Your lack of empathy is cringe-inducing.

[Anonymous]

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Far cry from "bullying" though; unless that means any comment that potentially hurts someone's feelings.

I think that purposefully is the operative word in this case. That does qualify as bullying.

Exactly. These girls knew exactly what they were saying was hurtful and mean.

And you know this how? It's amusing how you think you can somehow discern what two little girls had in mind when you weren't even present when the conversation occurred. You just want to say mean things about the children who got into AAP.

"So my DS came home today and said that he had the distinct pleasure (not) of sitting behind two AAP 3rd grade girls who were crowing about the fact that they were in the "smart" classes at their center school. Apparently they were arguing with another girl, saying they were smarter than her because she is not in AAP."

What's amusing is your truly lame attempt at spinning the above scenario into something innocent and benign. I don't care if these kids are in AAP or not, what they said was flat-out mean. You also weren't there and yet you seem insistent on making this into a scene from Sesame Street. Grow up.

"Apparently..." And who knows exactly what was said to whom during the "arguing"?

Tell a better story next time. What's lame is your sad effort to craft a little vignette just so you can crap on AAP kids and create a flimsy predicate for your argument that AAP centers should be entirely eliminated.

You just keep right on denying what these kids said was wrong. It speaks volumes about you.

Kids argue. You need to get over yourself and not try to turn kids into villains because they got into AAP. Shame on you.

Oh for God's sake. Shame on you for not acknowledging that what these kids said was very rude and hurtful. I'm happy someone stepped in when they did. AAP is really the least of my concerns. I'd feel exactly the same way if kids were belittling another because she wasn't pretty enough, or athletic enough, or what have you. Get over yourself and try empathy one of these days.

So where are the posts harping on similar purported incidents in which one kid was bragging to another about his or her superior looks or athletic skills, with the poster labeling it "bullying," and calling upon an entire community to revamp programs and reach out to children to instill the values of kindness and eschew such comparisons?

If there are any, they pale in number to the steady supply of manufactured posts complaining about the alleged mistreatment of GenEd kids at the hands of "insufferable" and "crowing" AAP students. Your hypocrisy is utterly revolting.

Really? Again with the "manufactured posts"? What's revolting is your insistence that issues you would prefer to sweep under the rug be dismissed as "manufactured" or fiction. But if it's something that fits in with your particular world view, by all means, it must be the truth. Talk about hypocrisy.

Your problem is that you're stuck with the OP, which makes it very clear that this incident, real or imagined, was seized upon by the OP as a pretext to launch into a diatribe against AAP as a program, AAP students as a group, and two young AAP students as individuals.

As to whether the underlying conduct was bullying, it's almost like an exam question, because the OP's biases are so obvious that no reasonable person would ever think it's a honest second or third-hand account of what happened, if the incident actually occurred. But, even as presented, it's a squabble, not bullying.

And, yes, you're a hypocrite, because it's only AAP that appears to evince such concern on your part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's bullying. Period. Are you going to be able to stop it? Probably not.

If it leaves long-lasting physical or psychological scars, its bullying. To be told by your peers that "you aren't smart enough" to belong to our special group that the school system picked us to be in, is bullying. This child no doubt will self-label as being less intelligent. That label will likely remain in her psyche for years to come until or unless she learns to rise above it.

So you assume the impact in order to justify the label. By the same logic, anyone told by their peers they aren't talented enough for the all-star team has been bullied and will no doubt stop playing sports for years to come.

Ridiculous.

I guess you've never had a daughter come home crying because she was told she's not pretty by peers and no longer wants to even look in the mirror. Or a son told he sucks at basketball, never want to play a sport involving balls again. Your lack of empathy is cringe-inducing.

As I said, you appear to live in a world of butthurt. There are no kids whose feelings are not shaped and, at times, hurt by their peers, but they grow by learning their own strengths and developing resilience, not by having others jump in to rescue them at the first sign of hurt feelings, labeling other children as "bulliies," and demanding widespread changes to schools or programs to minimize the risk that their feelings could ever be hurt again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not an AAP issue as some have noted. It's just about standing up for other kids, older or younger, who are being hurt, physically or verbally. As part of the anti-bullying campaign in my DCs' school, they have been told to stand up for one another. I think that's what the Patrol was trying to do. I would hope my kids would do the same, stand up for someone who was being harassed. That would make me more proud than my kid being in AAP.

As an adult, when you hear a group of kids making fun of another child, your's or not, do you not feel it's right to put a stop to it? I don't see why it would be a wrong for a 6th grade to do the same to a bunch of 3rd graders, as long as the 6th grader says it tactfully.

This is EXACTLY right!

[Anonymous]

Sounded to me like an older boy inserting himself into a conversation among much younger girls because his mother had inculcated her resentment of AAP students in him. It may be easy for him to intimidate girls who are several years younger than he is. Let's see how it goes when he tries to boss children his own age around.

[Anonymous]

Most of these AAP kids are in fact smarter. That doesn't make them nicer, or have better personalities. They don't test for that on the CogAt and WISC.
Of course there have been numerous threads over the years about the Gen Ed kids making fun of the AAP kids too.

[Anonymous]

The whole problem is that you are defending those mean girls. NO one should bully other kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The whole problem is that you are defending those mean girls. NO one should bully other kids.

Exactly right. But that wasn't the OP's point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The whole problem is that you are defending those mean girls. NO one should bully other kids.

Doesn't sound like bullying, just an argument. OP just wants an excuse to call for eliminating or scaling back AAP. That's very obvious from her post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The whole problem is that you are defending those mean girls. NO one should bully other kids.

Right.

For the record, yes a kid in grade six should step in. Why should he sit by and listen to these girls be demeaning to their peers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounded to me like an older boy inserting himself into a conversation among much younger girls because his mother had inculcated her resentment of AAP students in him. It may be easy for him to intimidate girls who are several years younger than he is. Let's see how it goes when he tries to boss children his own age around.

Well, clearly you have your own agenda. This was a PATROL, and they are told to step in when they see someone being bullied, made fun of, what have you. He did exactly the right thing, but you go right ahead and paint him as some kind big mean 6th grader. I applaud him for hearing nasty comments and putting a stop to them. And that goes for any kind of bullying this kid or other patrols are witnesses to. You don't even need to be a patrol to stand up for others. Isn't that what we are trying to teach our kids, to say something when they witness behavior like this? We need more kids like him, who are ready to nip this kind of nastiness in the bud. Hopefully it isn't your kid who could use a helping hand one of these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole problem is that you are defending those mean girls. NO one should bully other kids.

Right.

For the record, yes a kid in grade six should step in. Why should he sit by and listen to these girls be demeaning to their peers?

Interesting that, on the AAP forum, a poster started a thread called "Why I Hate AAP Parents" and then a few days later a thread appears that might have been entitled "Why I Hate AAP Kids." Lots of free-floating resentment out there against AAP that is being channeled in unproductive ways.