TELL US: Does 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer' Condone Bullying?

Does the lovable children's holiday classic send the wrong message? Tell us your thoughts.

In October, Patch asked readers how they felt about one parent's view that "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" condoned bullying. Specifically, blogger DadCamp wrote that the show sends the wrong message to children because of its "continuous teasing and bullying" It's not the first time a parent has spoken out against a classic children's program with such a claim. Last December, news spread that author and special ed professor George Giuliani said that "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was also a program laden with the theme of bullying, considering how much Rudolph was an outsider due to his glowing red nose. Giuliani, as such, wrote a book titled "No More Bullies at the North Pole," which re-tells the story of Rudolph. What do you …

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Betty Smith

8:10 am on Tuesday, December 11, 2012

I do see your point.   more ›

Muscato's Musings

Parents Need To Play A Lead Role In Stopping Bullying

We Need Everyone Involved In Stomping Down This Societal Scourge

Through my work in public relations and as a researcher and writer, I am attached to and work indirectly with the problem of bullying. And it is a problem – a big problem. We have always had bullying, but with today's electronic communication, and ability to anonymously – or proudly attach your name – you can post or transmit a nasty comment about someone that is visible to the world, or soon can be visible to the world.  Before I go on, I will come clean here. I was involved in bullying a kid when I was a youngster. And it was stupid and wrong. I did this bullying as part of group that bullied. Again, it was stupid and wrong.  There are a lot of smart and committed people, and effective and productive organizations, now combating the …

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Mother Knows Best

Should Bert and Ernie Get Married?

Discussing Sesame Street’s decision for Bert and Ernie to remain just friends.

The wedding is off!  Okay, it was never officially “on,” but Lair Scott’s controversial online petition did have much of cyberspace speculating, “Will Bert and Ernie really get hitched?”  Sesame Street Workshop (SSW) says, “No.” The awaited announcement, made on NBC’s Today Show, comes in response to weeks of cyber-hype and Scott’s attainment of 9,693 petition signatures for the two iconic roommates to wed.   “Bert and Ernie are best friends…they were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves,” SSW said in a statement.  “Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most 'Sesame Street' Muppets do), they remain …

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Muscato's Musings

Darkness And Problems All Too Visible

Whether They Exsist or Not

I dare say that well-meaning adults invite problems with their efforts to build awareness, tolerance, and understanding – especially if they are combatting problems that are bigger than they really are.  I mean, I love that several years ago Easton officially became a “No Place For Hate” community. That’s just great. But I kind of think that Easton was a “No Place For Hate” community when I was a kid growing up in town.  Then again, maybe we had a problem here that needed to be corrected. I might have been outside the loop.   Meghan Cox Gurdon, children’s book reviewer for the Wall Street Journal, recently – and unintentionally – ran up against the forces of those determined to define problems that are outsize to those that exist in …

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Muscato's Musings

Bullying - No Easy Solutions

But I Will Be So Bold As To Make Suggestions

I was probably 13 or 14 years old.   I was at a summer basketball camp at Stonehill College, and the team I was on was doing a rebounding drill on an outdoor court.  During the drill, two of the players on the team got into a tussle for the ball, and they ended up on the tar, rolling around; it was getting serious and about to, perhaps, go to fisticuffs. As the two went at it, all the rest of us – that would be their teammates – were just standing there watching. Then our coach, who was nearby, said, “Well, those are your teammates.  Are you going to do anything about it?  Or just stand there?” Lesson learned.  We ran over and separated the two. I am no expert on how to best combat bullying – but in my inexpert opinion, I can see …

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