The GL inbox is smoking with some emails passed on to us about (a). tough little ones at the Harmony Playground in Prospect Park and (b). the Slope’s pint-sized, brand-conscious materialists. We begin with the playground tough kids:
I have just moved within Park Slope, and Harmony is now our closest playground. My son loves it there, but we went this afternoon, and being a weekend of course, it was packed. It was to the point where it was stressful for me being there. There were a lot of big kids playing with a football… which hit me ( I’m 6 months pregnant by the way). There were kids running through the playground, pushing my poor 3 year old out of the way, and one child even kicked my son (no sign of that toddlers parents), while many kids pushed past him while he very patiently waited his turn on the slide.
Obviously it’s a popular place which everyone has a right to go to, but I also feel that my son and I have a right to play there safely. He shouldn’t be disadvantaged because he has nice manners. I want him to be able to interact with other kids, and learn to deal with the bigger kids, but I also want to be able to have fun with him while we are there, instead of stressing about losing him in the crowd, or him
getting pushed around.
From there, we move on to the brand conscious Slope Spawn. The perpetrators are 6 & 7, the victim is four:
We were on our way back from a great afternoon in Prospect park and my son was happily gliding downhill on his “Like-a-bike” type bike that happens to be made by another brand when the above group of boys came streaking down the street on scooters and started yelling “fake bike! fake! fake bike!” at him. At first my husband and I thought they were yelling “brake!” in a harmless attempt to mimic our warnings that he slow down as he occasionally picked up speed. It took us a while to figure out what they were even talking about as the trailed my son, circling around him for several blocks. Luckily my son, who is extremely pleased and proud of his hard won mastery of the bike, was in his own happy gliding world and didn’t even notice. I have also recently heard a story about a new kindergartener at [PS] 321 who came home crying about being excluded by a group of girls for not having the right, specific brand shoes!!! At 5!!!
This early awareness of brands is so upsetting. I know this a a heavily commercialized and saturated environment but we have to work hard to instill good values in our children and counter the effects of such commercialism. I find these stories to be utterly disgusting and feel disheartened with the neighborhood. This is not the park slope I grew up in, and would want to raise my child in. Who are these people???
There is also follow-up explanation about:
friends with kids at [PS] 321 who have been ostracized for not having a country home!! Another friends 4th grade son was asked about renovation! And whether they rent or own. This stuff is real and it is happening and I think we as parents should take responsibility for our children’s values.
Indeed.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Janet // Oct 1, 2007 at 5:46 am
None of this is new. There were kids who had obviously been in training to be upwardly-mobile when I was in elementary school in the ’60s. My parents avoided the price-inflated brand names, and made fun of the people they knew who were taken in by this year’s style of this and that, people who always had to have a new car, and how they didn’t even realize they were being taken in by advertising and the commercial interests. They didn’t give us the “you’re just as good” lecture, but we learned from their owning/spending patterns. So I just rolled my eyes when I was teased because my clothing and other possessions weren’t the advertised stylish brands.
So, I have to ask the parents for whose kids this is a problem–what’s on your feet?
2 Sarah // Oct 1, 2007 at 7:46 am
I’m sure the “fake bike” comment referred to the fact that it was not a real bicycle, rather than not a real Like-a-bike. Still not nice, but then that’s kids for you.
3 Anonymous // Oct 1, 2007 at 8:38 am
this happens all over.
sounds like you are way too sensitive.
ever heard of survival of the fittest?
4 Anonymous // Oct 1, 2007 at 8:48 am
you think this is distinctive to the slope? sheesh. welcome to the real world, people. when i was growing up in LA in a not-as-fancy place as the slope, it was whether you had the newest Jordans and what kind of car you or your parents drove. Nothing new here – just effed up commercialized America.
5 JackSzwergold // Oct 1, 2007 at 10:54 am
Actually, in Brooklyn, it is distinctive of the Slope. I went to Lincoln High School and had friends who went to Midwood and I’d occasionally tag along to a “Slopie’s” party. Yeeesh! It was on Carroll Street near 8th Avenue and it was the first time in my life—I was 16 or 17 at the time—that I was judged based on what part of Brooklyn I was from.
It still exists to this day and while I think the Slope is filled with great folks, there are some true elitists that keep alive a level of Brooklyn elitism that should just fade away at this point.
6 vickie2005 // Oct 1, 2007 at 11:12 am
I agree with Sarah–sounds like the bigger kids were ragging on your one for having a bike without pedals. (Otherwise, wouldn’t they have been yelling Fake LikeABIke!!?)
7 Janet // Oct 1, 2007 at 11:55 am
and a careful read of the post would suggest that the child wasn’t disturbed by this, only mom
8 BitchinPanda // Oct 1, 2007 at 1:08 pm
I saw some kids running through Carroll Park screaming, “I’m opening a new restaurant and you can’t come!” and one boy claiming the top of the jungle gym by screaming, “I own this building!”. True story.
Awesome.
9 Anonymous // Oct 1, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I have to say, as a single-mom living in the Slope with a 13 year-old girl, and a relatively low income, WELCOME to America. I avoid the drama, like Janet’s parents did in the 60’s, by modeling different values for my daughter. If anything, she feels sorry for this type of kids. The rat-race can only bother people who care about being in it.
10 Anonymous // Oct 1, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Yes, this is just another day in the Slope. Multi-million brownstone townhouses attract this type of people.
11 Anonymous // Oct 2, 2007 at 9:53 am
Isn’t “the slope” in BROOKLYN. Come on. Get a life.
12 Anonymous // Oct 3, 2007 at 7:59 am
I also agree with Sarah so I think this reflects more on the mother than the taunting kids.
The kids saw something funny ( a bike without pedals) and did what kids do and call it out.
Meanwhile, our extremely sensitive mother reacts in horror at this apparent brand obsession that appears to be hers alone. Don’t feel bad that you bought your kid a Target version of the bike and don’t project and you won’t assume that others notice.
13 Anonymous // Jan 5, 2008 at 3:48 pm
As a former bully and the proud father of a former bully myself, I can say with absolute certainty that the author’s quick-tempered analysis of the situation could not be more pathetically wrong…
1. Snotty teenage girls, and not bona fide bullies, take issue with a particular item’s brand. To do so does not lie within the realm of the “bully mindset”. “Hey kid nice knockoff!” That is something you would expect more from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and NOT from a pack of juvenile delinquents.
2. Let’s be honest: when you consider the various modes of transportation available to children, the like-a-bike lies somewhere just above “stroller” and slightly below “training wheels”. It is nothing short of crying out to the world “my mommy says I’m not allowed to get hurt so my daddy got me this”. It just screams “kick-me”.
3. Furthermore, the quintessential bully would regard other aspects of the picturesque scene the author failed to provide to us; such as the following:
a. Was the child wearing a helmet?
b. Was the child wearing the appropriate knee and elbow protection?
c. Was the author’s husband happily jogging alongside their child in case he lost his balance?
d. Did the child’s father have a proud smile from spanning from ear to ear?
e. Did the author have that maternal look of fawning which mothers are apt to have been watching their little boys grow up?
4. If the parent really wants to feel inferior cut/paste this your browser (we have the little blue racer for our 16 month old): http://www.bmw-online.com/BMWRA_products.asp?page=1&mm=For+Kids&c=Future+Drivers&sc=Toys&m=AUTOMOTIVE&r1=&md=&a1=ON&d1=ON&i1=ON&p1=1&p2=10&s1=80910414338&bplo=&bphi=&promo=
Nice one…