Althouse: "I can just prove all these kids wrong... I'm not the joke everyone thinks I am."

October 1, 2012

"I can just prove all these kids wrong... I'm not the joke everyone thinks I am."

Girl voted homecoming queen as a joke steps up.

25 comments:

edutcher said...: Good for you, honey.

Show 'em what class looks like.; 10/1/12, 6:05 AM
edutcher said...: PS You're up early, Madame.

No one ill, I hope.; 10/1/12, 6:30 AM
Old RPM Daddy said...: Looks like somebody's idea of a mean prank backfired. Good.

I wonder why this little girl was so tormented. She looks like an ordinary teenager to me, kind of wide-eyed, maybe a little bashful. Who was picking on her and why?; 10/1/12, 8:07 AM
Rusty said...: The girls got class.; 10/1/12, 8:14 AM
Rusty said...: The girls got class.; 10/1/12, 8:14 AM
Shanna said...: I'm amazing that people actually do these things in real life, not just on cheesy movies (or horror flicks).; 10/1/12, 8:16 AM
Skyler said...: Another reason to abolish government schools.

Poor girl.; 10/1/12, 8:37 AM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: Yet another excellent example of the wise observation that "it is not so much what happens to you that counts, but rather how you choose to react to what happens to you".

And also, before we come down too hard on the bullies, remember Hamlet's caution: judged by our deserts, who among us would escape a whipping?

Certainly not I. While I was never a physical bully, I regret to this day, almost 50 years later, several instances of verbal teasing of grade school classmates I wish I could undo.; 10/1/12, 8:51 AM
Old RPM Daddy said...: "While I was never a physical bully, I regret to this day, almost 50 years later, several instances of verbal teasing of grade school classmates I wish I could undo."

A lot of us could say similar things. I know I could.; 10/1/12, 9:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Uplifting story + nobody had to clean up pig's blood.; 10/1/12, 9:52 AM
Sam L. said...: Some kids are mean to others, and some of them have cliques to assist them in spreading the mean.

I think this is a phase of teenagerdom that not all grow out of.; 10/1/12, 9:54 AM
Chip S. said...: What joesmho99 said.

Also, a slam-dunk Lifetime movie.; 10/1/12, 10:19 AM
Anonymous said...: I think this is a phase of teenagerdom that not all grow out of.

10/1/12 9:54 AM

Many of them apparently go on to journalism school.; 10/1/12, 10:49 AM
Pastafarian said...: Huh. I don't get it.

What was the joke? I expected to click over and see a girl who was homely or disfigured or overweight.

This girl is cute, if not for a bad haircut.

Maybe I'm cynical, but this has the feel of a made-up controversy. Could teens be so devious as to manufacture this whole event, by taking a perfectly normal cute girl, giving her a bad hair cut, and spending a few weeks laying plausible groundwork by making fun of her, all with her knowledge and cooperation?

I'll answer my own question: Yes, yes they could.; 10/1/12, 11:11 AM
Anonymous said...: Pastafarian: When I changed schools in 6th grade, there was a girl who was relentlessly picked on for no reason that I could understand. She wasn't fat, wasn't dumb, wasn't ugly - in fact, she had very beautiful long blonde hair- and yet she was tormented daily. At some point, for some reason, she had been collectively chosen to play the role of Class Outcast and nothing she could do could change that.

I did not join in the teasing, but (to my shame) did not defend her either. As the new kid in the class, I feared being tarred with the same brush.

We went to different high schools. When I was about 17 or so, I ran into her in a park. After exchanging a few polite pleasantries, she suddenly burst into tears and said, "You saw what they did to me and you did nothing! You said nothing! Do you realize what hell I went though at that school?"

I still feel miserable and guilty when I think of her. I really hope things turned out for her in the end.

That experience makes me inclined to believe this girl's experience is genuine.; 10/1/12, 12:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Now that I think of it, my 6th grade class was unusual in that there was nobody who obviously fit the usual role of Class Misfit. I don't remember any fat kids. Not everyone was cute, of course, but I don't remember any kids who were terribly plain. Nor did we have any kids with physical handicaps, speech impediments or funny names - all the things which usually single out children for ridicule.

And yet, apparently, kids have a need to bully and harass one of their peers, so they'll settle on someone, anyone. Maybe they singled out the girl in my class or the girl in this story because those girls displayed vulnerability. Once sharks smell blood in the water....; 10/1/12, 12:45 PM
ndspinelli said...: I have seen a lot of heartbreak in my life. However, some of the worst was when I taught in a middle school and had lunch duty. Boy bullying is often physically dangerous. But, the girl bullying would tear me up. I would try and comfort the girl cast aside, but there's little one can do.; 10/1/12, 12:47 PM
Wince said...: Electing her homecoming queen was a bit of heteronormative therapy, no?; 10/1/12, 1:14 PM
Methadras said...: Good for her. Instead of shrinking into utter obscurity and embarrassment, she grew a pair and led from the front. To bad our resident golfer and habitual liar of a president can't take a lesson from her on how to do that. Driving a country from the back of the bus still looks good to him.; 10/1/12, 2:58 PM
ndspinelli said...: Few comments on an uplifting story. I guess most are attracted to bad news.; 10/1/12, 3:53 PM
Darrell said...: exile,

I had the same experience, almost to the letter. The only difference was that it happened in high school and I had come from the Catholic school system. I befriended that girl before I saw what was happening, not that it would have mattered. I never got the whole story but I was told that the triggering "incident"--whatever it was--that turned her from one of the popular crowd to "pariah" happened in grammar school, around grade 5. From what I heard, she had become the most popular girl and some of the others decided to take her down a notch or two. And they never stopped. Another difference with your story is that she never let it get to her. She was a happy person by nature and she just continued to do what she wanted to do and ignore all the rest.

Fast forward to the 20th HS reunion--the last one I attended. That girl, Cathy, was the only one that escaped middle age spread--she looked liked an actress. She also had a top management job in a big classy hotel operation. She was by far the best looking woman at the 10th reunion, as well. Things all work out sometimes. And everyone at the reunions were still talking about her in the same way. These times it only looked and sounded more pathetic than ever, though. Especially when the former Queen Bees tried to keep their husbands from buzzing around her all night.; 10/1/12, 4:04 PM
Deb said...: Bullying must be arbitrary, because she is absolutely adorable. Red dress! You go girl!; 10/1/12, 4:35 PM
Julie C said...: Girls are the worst bullies. Mainly because they usually hide it well from authority figures, and so it goes on for a lot longer. Boys are generally not too subtle, and get caught quickly.

I'm glad this girl did not go quietly.; 10/1/12, 6:10 PM
Dante said...: I hope it doesn't end like in Carey. No telekinetic powers, etc.; 10/2/12, 10:55 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Another reason to abolish government schools."

Do you think such bullying doesn't take place in private schools?; 10/2/12, 12:16 PM