Whitney Kropp: Bullied Michigan Teen Shines at Homecoming Game

[Baz]

Just saw this on the news and thought it was a cool story....I hate young punks who pick on other kids....good for this young lady and her peers who just showed amazing maturity with their generosity and compassion.


Whitney Kropp: Bullied Michigan Teen Shines at Homecoming Game - Yahoo! News



For bullied high school sophomore Whitney Kropp, looking good was the best revenge.

Earlier this month, the West Branch, Mich., teen said she thought about killing herself after some classmates told her she was nominated to homecoming court as a joke.

On Friday, Kropp had the last laugh.

Local businesses rallied around the teen, donating her dress, shoes, jewelry, hair styling and makeup.

The 16-year-old was escorted by her father and grandfather to the field, where she confidently took her place in the Ogemaw Heights High School homecoming court.

Students on the opposing team cheered Kropp on with banners.

"It's just so much right now for me," Kropp said. "I had thoughts about not coming but I actually changed my mind and came out. I just thought maybe I won't have fun. But I'm having a lot of fun right now."

Kropp said she doesn't know who decided to pull the cruel "prank" on her, but had a message for other students dealing with bullying.

"The kids that are bullying, do not let them bring you down," Kropp said. "Stand up for what you believe in, and go with your heart and go with your gut. That's what I did, and look at me now. I'm just as happy as can be."

[GH85Carrera]

Nice story.

[Rick Lee]

Surely, there must be uglier kids in that school, more worthy of bullying.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Surely, there must be uglier kids in that school, more worthy of bullying.

She likely made the mistake of being intelligent in a festering schite hole like West Branch, Mich.

[masraum]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bullied-michigan-teen-nominated-homecoming-court-a-cruel-joke-cheered-hero-article-1.1171037

[widgeon13]

I hate these stories of bullying, just pisses me off. Why do kids bully in the first place? How can children be so mean?

Good for Whitney!

[Baz]

Thanks for the additional photos, Steve. They really add to the story.

This bullying of course has been around forever. Nowadays it is even more intense because of cyber technology. So many times Facebook is heard as part of the story. In this case though, her Facebook support page is a positive.

Support Whitney Kropp | Facebook



It's a different world today.

[romad]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

She likely made the mistake of being intelligent in a festering schite hole like West Branch, Mich.

Oh I'm sure the "festering ****te hole of Seattle" is completely free of this behavior. Frigging elitist west coast a hole

[widgeon13]

No place is free of this crap behavior.

Some kids just seem to have no respect today. What they don't seem to realize is that the shoe can quickly move to the other foot.

She sort of looks like Dana Dalany, nothing wrong with that!

[fastfredracing]

The joke will be on the bullies in the end. I think that girl is cute as a button, and I bet she grows into a beautiful young woman.

[Tervuren]

Is this joke played by the actual people in charge of homecoming, or not? Just curious. I saw in a local paper that this same thing happened here, but didn't flip past the front page to read more.

[kach22i]

I met a young man with his father at the recent hovercraft rally in Michigan. He's in a tech school now to get his GED. He was so bullied in High School that it just was not worth staying in.

The kid is a mechanical genius, the school had him in the slow learner program just because he was a little different. Things really turned around for him when he designed and built his own hovercraft which he now races. The teachers and other students gave him a new found respect.

Kids are cruel, maybe even more so than when I was young.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

She likely made the mistake of being intelligent in a festering schite hole like West Branch, Mich.

Originally Posted by romad

Oh I'm sure the "festering ****te hole of Seattle" is completely free of this behavior. Frigging elitist west coast a hole

Originally Posted by widgeon13

No place is free of this crap behavior.

!

Didn't you just say a mouthful.

[sammyg2]

I saw a piece on that story last night and all I could think of was ... bullied? Really?
Is that how fricking wimpy this country is now that we have to call everything "bullied?

There was no bullying involved, lets get that out front.
There was a mean-spirited prank, poor in execution and intent.
The people who pulled off the prank were arse holes, not bullies.

Did anyone see the picture of her before she got that red hair and "haircut"?
She dressed like a clown, her hair was several different colors.
When I was a teenager we didn't go around looking like freaks because ..... drum roll ..... We didn't want to get treated like a freak. It wasn't right, but it was what we called REALITY.
Wow, weird concept. Huh?
Anyone know how many votes she got? A few people might have started it, but a whole bunch of people piled on and kept it going by voting for her even though they all knew she was not a real candidate. Why?
What was it about her that made it sooo far-fetched that she could actually be considered for homecoming court? And how much of that was a result of her "personal fashion choices"?
Again, it isn't right and I'm not blaming her, but it is reality. Better judgement on her part may have avoided this whole issue.
Oh, wouldn't it be a wonderful world if people could dress like freaks and be accepted and we were all nice to each other all the time and unicorns flew out of our butts and we all pissed rainbows? Back to reality.



While we're on the subject, you can't get bullied on facebook.
It's a computer. You can turn it off or click on something else.
Bullying involves physical threats, assault, or intimidation. Someone saying they don't like your clothes is called an insult, not bullying.

Remember the saying about sticks and stones?
That was our parents attempt to keep us from growing up to be pussies.

[Rick Lee]

There was a kid on my bus in junior high who was considered special ed., but didn't ride the short bus. His name was Mike and he was just kind of weird, but pretty harmless, a bit of a spaz and goofball. I think his spec. ed. status was for hyperactivity, but that was never clear. He was a little too normal for spec. ed. and a little too weird to not be spec. ed. Anyway, he often acted out on the bus and sort of talked to everyone like he was making a speech to the whole bus. We never had more than 10-15 kids on that bus route, so we all knew each other. Mike got teased a little, but he usually started it by saying something obnoxious to others and none of us really considered him to be violent or aggressive. But Mike was a big dude. One day one of the loudmouths who usually pestered Mike pushed the wrong button. Travis was pretty short and loud, but also harmless. When he said the wrong thing to Mike, Mike grabbed his jacket and pimp slapped him, shook him like a rag doll. It was pretty cool to see. Travis was never the same. He didn't cry, but his face was purple from shame and he kept quiet from then on. And Mike kind of quieted down after that too. That'd probably get a SWAT response these days, but it took care of itself back in the early 80's.

[intakexhaust]

Good for her and a nice story. Thinking back how many of the cute girls in high school turned out not and the quiet, less attractive ones turned out hot.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

While we're on the subject, you can't get bullied on facebook.
It's a computer. You can turn it off or click on something else.
Bullying involves physical threats, assault, or intimidation. Someone saying they don't like your clothes is called an insult, not bullying.

Remember the saying about sticks and stones?
That was our parents attempt to keep us from growing up to be pussies.

I think Lance Armstrong finannly realized this, and quit bothering with a tax funded organization with no authority on the subject that kept trying to strip his titles.

As for the hair - that is today's normal for teens, so she doesn't look like a freak...(not that its my style)

IMO, hair dye tends to ruin the texture over time, so it looks good for the first bit, but ends up ugly in the long run. Aside from the hair dye, I'd of probably voted for her over most other choices that tend to get nominated. I'm also told my opinion concerning wimmin is in the minority for the USA.

[Icemaster]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I saw a piece on that story last night and all I could think of was ... bullied? Really?
Is that how fricking wimpy this country is now that we have to call everything "bullied?

There was no bullying involved, lets get that out front.
There was a mean-spirited prank, poor in execution and intent.
The people who pulled off the prank were arse holes, not bullies.

Did anyone see the picture of her before she got that red hair and "haircut"?
She dressed like a clown, her hair was several different colors.
When I was a teenager we didn't go around looking like freaks because ..... drum roll ..... We didn't want to get treated like a freak. It wasn't right, but it was what we called REALITY.
Wow, weird concept. Huh?
Anyone know how many votes she got? A few people might have started it, but a whole bunch of people piled on and kept it going by voting for her even though they all knew she was not a real candidate. Why?
What was it about her that made it sooo far-fetched that she could actually be considered for homecoming court? And how much of that was a result of her "personal fashion choices"?
Again, it isn't right and I'm not blaming her, but it is reality. Better judgement on her part may have avoided this whole issue.
Oh, wouldn't it be a wonderful world if people could dress like freaks and be accepted and we were all nice to each other all the time and unicorns flew out of our butts and we all pissed rainbows? Back to reality.



While we're on the subject, you can't get bullied on facebook.
It's a computer. You can turn it off or click on something else.
Bullying involves physical threats, assault, or intimidation. Someone saying they don't like your clothes is called an insult, not bullying.

Remember the saying about sticks and stones?
That was our parents attempt to keep us from growing up to be pussies.

Did the kids walk across your grass again?

And it was an uphill walk to school 10 miles each way in a blinding snowstorm where you learned from a nun with a 1" thick ruler in a single room school lit by a whale oil lamp and a coal stove with no coal.

She caught crap because she chose to be different. God forbid.

[vash]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I saw a piece on that story last night and all I could think of was ... bullied? Really?
Is that how fricking wimpy this country is now that we have to call everything "bullied?

There was no bullying involved, lets get that out front.
There was a mean-spirited prank, poor in execution and intent.
The people who pulled off the prank were arse holes, not bullies.

Did anyone see the picture of her before she got that red hair and "haircut"?
She dressed like a clown, her hair was several different colors.
When I was a teenager we didn't go around looking like freaks because ..... drum roll ..... We didn't want to get treated like a freak. It wasn't right, but it was what we called REALITY.
Wow, weird concept. Huh?
Anyone know how many votes she got? A few people might have started it, but a whole bunch of people piled on and kept it going by voting for her even though they all knew she was not a real candidate. Why?
What was it about her that made it sooo far-fetched that she could actually be considered for homecoming court? And how much of that was a result of her "personal fashion choices"?
Again, it isn't right and I'm not blaming her, but it is reality. Better judgement on her part may have avoided this whole issue.
Oh, wouldn't it be a wonderful world if people could dress like freaks and be accepted and we were all nice to each other all the time and unicorns flew out of our butts and we all pissed rainbows? Back to reality.



While we're on the subject, you can't get bullied on facebook.
It's a computer. You can turn it off or click on something else.
Bullying involves physical threats, assault, or intimidation. Someone saying they don't like your clothes is called an insult, not bullying.

Remember the saying about sticks and stones?
That was our parents attempt to keep us from growing up to be pussies.

so, in summary..she asked for it?

not everyone subscibes to being a "stepford wife"..dressing differently and acting like an individual doesnt make someone a freak.

i'm not sure of any previous bullying, so i cant comment..maybe this homecoming event was just a part of the process.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

The joke will be on the bullies in the end. I think that girl is cute as a button, and I bet she grows into a beautiful young woman.

Well - she already IS beautiful where it counts....but it will take a while before she knows it, I suspect.