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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCalifornia Mayor Suggests Bullied Kids 'Grow A Pair': VIDEO
At a May 6 city council meeting, when councilwoman Virginia Gurrola suggested that the city of Porterville, California support a student-led anti-bullying program called "Safe Zones, the current mayor Cameron Hamilton suggested that bullied kids grow a pair.
The Visalia Times-Delta reports:
Designed to provide safe places for children to go when they are being bullied, such ("Safe Zone bully-free) locations would be designated with a sign or sticker
With their trusty laptops in front of them, some of the council members did an immediate search on "Safe Zone". As there are several programs with that name around the country, and many of them geared towards the LGBT community, a red flag (or more precisely, a rainbow flag) went up
Mayor Hamilton was having none of that. "I'm against bullying, he said, but I'm getting damn tired of it being used as a mantra for everything, and the ills of the world. All most people just have to grow a pair, and stick up for them damn selves.
more: http://www.towleroad.com/2014/05/california-mayor-suggests-bullied-kids-grow-a-pair-video.html
Shhh...homophobia is only a "side issue" of something larger.
merrily
(45,251 posts)It is not about a level playing field between one fighter who has courage and another fighter who is a coward. Then again, Hamilton also does not seem to understand what being against bullying means, either. (Hint: Being against bullying does not manifest in saying that the bullied group is using the word "bullying" as a mantra to cover their cowardice, thereby adding a government endorsement of the bullying.) Also, Hamilton seems clueless about the duties of a public school in a society that requires parents to send their kids to school. "In loco parentis." I would not subject my child to Mayor Hamilton's idea of schooling.
I hope someone sues the Mayor and the town. Maybe that will give the Mayor an incentive to get schooled on what certain words mean.
sakabatou
(42,155 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)From the photo, I'd say he missed the casting call for "Lockup: Tulare County".
sakabatou
(42,155 posts)but would he still call his kid to grow a pair?
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)A real "stand your ground" guy.
tinrobot
(10,903 posts)When adults do it, we call it "assault and battery".
Otherwise, there is no difference.
yuiyoshida
(41,832 posts)this guy is a Republican?
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)They're looking for his head on a platter. Just wanted to give everyone an update lest they think he has lots and lots of supporters. He doesn't.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Response to Behind the Aegis (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
exboyfil
(17,863 posts)get a readily available gun and kill others and/or themselves. What an incredibly stupid thing to say. Schools are cages and that is why I will not compromise on my absolute right to pull my children from school. I almost committed suicide because of bullying when I was in 9th grade. I also let my daughters know from an early age that one thing I would absolutely not tolerate is them bullying others.
edhopper
(33,587 posts)with a knife and intimidates me, I should grow a pair and fight back. I shouldn't go to the police and ask for help, that would mean I don't stand up for myself.
Right, Mayor Hamilton?