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Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick
I simply found what he was saying to be crass and glib, whether he knew what her daughter looks like or not. And in general, when people say they're saying things to "get into trouble" I don't hold what's said in much esteem.
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I didn't say I was saying it
to get in trouble, just that by saying it I fully expected people to have problems with it. If I want to troll, I'd like to think I'd be better at it than that.
As I said, I have no idea who's children may be fat, though based on the statistics I would guess that at least a quarter of the children of people on this board are fat. In my opinion, whether a kid actually is fat influences how a parent should talk to their kid about the teasing and how the kid itself should respond to teasing.
This does not make the teasing ok. It should still be punished (though not like it were some kind of capital offense). Being teased and learning to deal with it is part of growing up. Learning that teasing is not appropriate is also part of growing up. And for the most part it is a hierarchal cycle, not a latter and kids end up needing to learn both lessons. Both are lessons that many people have trouble learning and, frankly, I find people who make it to adulthood and can't cope with being teased or bullied almost as annoying as people who grow up and haven't learned not to tease and bully.
In the vein of what Prudence mentions, I don't think it is so much parents saying that teasing is ok as being in denial that their kid would actually misbehave. Similarly I think too many parents go too far in protecting their children from kids who are mean or simply don't like them (especially the parents who when confronted with "the kids will make fun of me if I don't have X" then go out and get X for the child).