Son (8) gets picked on at school for his interests

[ThisMauveFish]

My son (8) has been getting picked on at school for an unknown length of time as he’s only just told me yesterday. Teachers don’t seem to know anything about it but my son says that the older kids tell him that Fortnite (his favourite game) is “gay”

My son really loves Fortnite. It’s almost all he really cares about. Hes got the Fortnite tee shirts, the lego sets, he has even learned each of the dances in the game and enthusiastically performs them for anybody. The fridge is covered in drawings of the characters. I even made him a Fortnite birthday cake for his 8th - Now I’m worried if this “bully” (or if there are multiple, he seems too upset to tell me) is going to ruin his love for it.

I was always under the impression that Fortnite was very popular for that age group. It seems as though they are just wanting to pick on your son for anything they can think of. Sorry you’re going through this

It’s got nothing to do with Fortnite, they want to be unpleasant to him and have zoned in on something that’s important to him.

To some older children Fortnite isn’t a game they want to play now as it’s not cool enough - therefore they’ll be very dismissive of it and yes, they’ll do that by calling it ‘gay’. That’s an opinion on a game though. It’s not bullying unless they are then saying he is ‘gay’ and persistently targeting him in that way.

If your DS is struggling with this, I’d suggest he gets emotional support to understand we all like different things and it’s fine to like and enjoy Fortnite. If others don’t like the game, that’s ok too.

The school could be doing more about the use of the word ‘gay’ and maybe whole school assemblies too about how the use of that word in that context isn’t acceptable.

If your son is being persistently targeted by a group of older children and being called names then he needs to tell an adult as soon as it happens. He, and which ever adult in school he feels safe enough to tell, could use a system where he places a counter, pencil or other object on the adult’s desk so they know something has happened without him needing to verbalise it straightaway if he is upset. It can give him and the adult time to find a safe space to discuss when he is ready to talk.

Been there done that.
my advice? Get him to stick up for himself. If they call him names and he tells them to stop but they persist a good kick in the nuts works wonders. Nip that shit in the bud while they are young, don’t let him become a target.

Agree with this, though maybe not with the kick in the nuts as he could get himself into trouble which he doesn’t deserve. But absolutely, your son should not let himself become a target. He should stick up for himself every time and not let these bullies get to him.
The school needs to get the children to understand that the word gay should not be used in this way. This is perfectly possible before someone says it’s not. It’s about education and consequences.
Also been there and done that.