Aww… Kayaker for Homecoming Court!
I’m probably wrong, but I thought that she was nominated as a joke, but was then elected to be on the court after the story grew legs.
Awww, feeling bullied, are we? 
Anybody looking for the logic behind her treatment is wasting their time. They’re high school kids. Logic doesn’t enter into it.
Yeah, I thought they nominated her, so she could be humiliated when she didn’t get any votes.
StG
I graduated from high school 10 years ago and I honestly don’t get the meanness. I’m really glad it turned out well.
I think what’s particularly perplexing is how it became national news. I can believe that mean spirited teenagers felt that nominating someone for homecoming is hilarious and nasty per se, but I expect the media to hold bullies to a higher standard.
Good looks in themselves are not sufficient for bullies to refrain from targeting a particular girl in school. So, please stop being surprised when a bullying target isn’t hideously ugly. I don’t understand why this ever comes up in threads on bullying, because this isn’t the first time I’ve seen it (here and elsewhere). I personally knew quite a few girls in high school that, while they weren’t unattractive, were still unpopular (present company included). And a few got bullied on a regular basis. If someone smells weird, has weird/nerdy interests, is non-straight, wears non-preppy clothes, or isn’t particularly good at social navigation, they will be targeted regardless of looks.
There are also late-bloomers, who become attractive well after the social pecking order has already been established (“ugly ducklings”). But by then, their self-worth is already in the shitter. Also, this doesn’t just apply to girls, but I’m only discussing my personal experiences.
You are wrong. She was nominated and elected as a joke. She was thrilled until a while later when she found out about the joke. Then the football player who was elected as her escort dropped out which really crushed her. He ended up going through with it and claimed that he dropped out not because of having to be with her but because he thought that the entire thing was lame and would have dropped out no matter who was elected with him.
Right. It’s not just the nomination that supposed to be funny. It’s that the recipient gets excited about it, thinking she’s not actually unpopular, and that actually a lot of people like her. Then everyone can see her excitement and laugh at how stupid she must be to think that people would really vote for her for Homecoming Court. It’s the cruel joke of getting someone’s hopes up before crushing them down.
My school wasn’t perfect, but at least it didn’t have cruel things like this happen as far as I can remember. I’m glad this story at least has a somewhat happy ending.
No doubt he got taken aside by a parent/coach/teacher for a little talk about what it takes to be a man. So that’s another good result.
You expect logic from high school bullies?
Two different issues. Girls aren’t automatically popular because they’re pretty. There are plenty of people who can be pretty; but are still unpopular. In one of the articles I read about this, I’m pretty sure I saw where it wasn’t unusual for her to wear her hair a different color everyday. I think in the interview I saw she mentioned something about wearing steel toed boots. This is not the type of person who runs with the ‘in’ crowd’.
Whitney said that while at school last year she was kicked in the shins by someone who was wearing steel-toed boots…
She seems like a nice kid, and I hope she goes on to bigger and better things after high school.
I think she’s pretty hot.
She’d get my vote.
One thing that puzzles me, tho…I can’t believe any of the other hot chicks at the school would go along with it. I can’t believe even the cruelty of youth could overcome vanity.
Is it just co-incidental that today is national meangirls day, or was (oct 3).
Declan
Am I a bad person for thinking that her hair color clashed badly with her dress?
Your not a bad person Gyrate, I thought that it would have been funny if it turned out that all the townspeople and merchants who came to her aid were part of an even larger prank.
Never underestimate stupidity.
At my kids’ high school this year, the “popular” group decided it would be funny to all nominate the new assistant principal… a tall, young, good looking blond woman. She got the majority of the votes. What they didn’t think of was that these votes would all be thrown out, and the girls who were well known, but not necessarily part of the “in crowd” got nominated. Three of the four senior girls nominated will be division 1 athletes next year, and all are top students. Several administrators commented on this being one of the best representations of the school ever.
Meanwhile, the “popular” girls who are normally nominated were sitting in the stands kicking themselves for urging their friends to all vote for the “funny” nomination.
While you can get elected to the homecoming court by being pretty, the queen is a completely different animal. All the popular kids seem to get together and decide on their own who’s going to win, way ahead of time. I know I’d already heard through the grapevine who was going to win for both of my last two years. I even noticed the pattern–it was the one popular girl who was elected as part of the court as a sophomore. It wouldn’t surprise me if the queen essentially picks her successor.