"My Little Pony" backpacks aren't usually considered the most controversial of items, but after a 9-year-old boy had his banned from his North Carolina elementary school, people across the nation took offense.
Grayson Bruce said he experienced bullying at the hands of schoolmates after he wore his "My Little Pony" backpack to school.
"It made me feel devastated. I didn't think I was going to get the reaction that I got," he told ABC News.
But rather than punishing the students responsible for harassing Grayson, the school decided to ban the boy's bag, deeming it a distraction.
Since then, the Facebook page "Support for Grayson" has received more than 60,000 likes while a Change.org petition calling for the school to allow Grayson to bring his bag to school has recieved more than 10,000 supporters.
Grayson's mother Noreen says the school's approach amounts to victim blaming.
"Saying a lunchbox is a trigger for bullying is like saying a short skirt is a trigger for rape. It's flawed logic," she said.
Dr. Karyn Gordon, a parenting expert, supports Grayson, saying that the focus of the school should have been more on educating the entire student body instead of isolating the child being bullied.
A school district official told ABC News: "Our schools take any allegations of bullying seriously and work diligently in all cases to resolve the issues in the best interest of students."
The principal has not commented on the issue.
In the mean time, Grayson is being homeschooled while his mom meets with the school's superintendent.
