So, on a recent thread, there was a general wonderment about how 4 year olds already pick on any kid that looks funny and people asking 'where do they get it from?'
To misquote from just a few threads in recent days:
Don't buy your 7 year old the pram he asked for for his birthday - he will get teased.
Don't give your kids hand-me-downs from the opposite sex, they will get teased.
Do take any excess hair off your hirsute DC, or they will get teased.
Do let your teenage DD have a boob job as it's horrible to have stand out small or large boobs.
Don't BF beyond school age. (Okay, now you are thinking there must be a good medical reason for telling someone how to feed their child right? Wrong.) Because they will be teased if anyone finds out.
Any number of people saying how glad they are that they are PG with a DD so they can buy frilly pink outfits and dolls.
Or in other words the average message on mumsnet is that the best way to support your DC is not to promote their individual likes, dislikes, interests and uniqueness but to CONFORM CONFORM CONFORM.
(I do mean average - there are obviously lots of people attempting to stem the tide.)
Where do 4 yo learn that individuality is a bad idea? They learn it in 4 years worth of brainwashing from their parents.
So how about we collectively pull out the finger and start promoting individuality in our DC's (stop buying blue and pink and toy guns and barbie dolls) and maybe, instead of having to protect our kids from teasing, day in, day out, we will be able to stop bulling at it's source.