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Dale G. Young / The Detroit News
Whitney Kropp was named to the homecoming court as a joke by her classmates, but the tiny farm town of West Branch, Mich., has rallied around her.
A tiny farming town in Michigan is rallying around a 16-year-old girl who was voted to be on a high school homecoming court as part of a prank. Local businesses are picking up the tab for her special night, while a neighbor started a Facebook support page.
"It’s been overwhelming," Bernice Kropp told NBC News on Monday. Her daughter, Whitney Kropp, is at the center of the controversy at West Branch’s Ogemaw Heights High School, north of Saginaw.
Kropp said Whitney was humiliated when she learned Sept. 13 that her selection to the homecoming court had been part of a joke. She said students pointed at her in the hallways and laughed, and the boy who was picked with her withdrew.
"She was getting ridiculed in school and on Facebook," Kropp said.
"But then," Kropp added, "other kids started coming up to her and saying, 'Whitney, don’t let them stop you from going to homecoming. You need to go ahead, you need to do it'."
Kropp said her daughter, a sophomore, had been picked on before at school, but not to the extent of the peer vote that selects popular students to the court, which traditionally names a queen, king and princes and princesses from each class. The high school has about 800 students.
"I thought I wasn't worthy. I was this big old joke," Whitney told The Detroit News.
Dan Cwayna, the superintendent of the West Branch-Rose City School District, told NBC News he is aware of the situation. “I do not have much to add at this time,” he said, adding “I am hesitant to say anything out of privacy and concerns for the student involved.”
Kropp described her daughter as quiet, polite and kind, rarely finding fault with peers and people. Kropp said Whitney has a date for the dance this Saturday, "and it’s her boyfriend who has been very quiet and supportive through all of this."
"You want to protect your kid, and you feel angry and mad at what has happened, but at the same time the outpouring to help her has been beyond expected," Kropp said.
Word spread quickly through the community of about 2,100 residents in West Branch. Resident Jamie Kline started a Facebook support page, gaining more than 4,000 likes in Michigan and nationwide. Personal stories of bullying and messages of encouragement filled the page, among them:
"You go, girl! From here in California, it looks like you won the vote legitimately but some of your "friends" got jealous and nasty about it. Their "joke" never really happened! Hold your head high and have a good time," Raymond Puffer.
"Whitney YOU are a beautiful gal inside and out and dont ever let anyone tell you any different,” Karen Morrison Gross.
"I am so proud of this young lady ((((You GO, Girl))))), her family and the awesome community we share! It's high time we ALL take a stand against bullies. They come in all sizes, ages and social arenas. Be Kind ALWAYS,” Ginger Warren.
Jen Case, who is with Whit’s End Salon in West Branch, said the salon owner donated services to cut, color and style Kropp’s hair. "Bullying is a big thing and we wanted to turn this into a positive moment," Case said.
Other local businesses are paying for Whitney’s dinner, gown, shoes and a tiara for the dance.
"We live in this community and we’re about the community and giving back," Case told NBC News. "We wanted to help this young lady have a special night."
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Where are the parents of the bullies in these situations (the teens bullying on facebook, the guy backing out of the co-nomination, the students bullying her at school)?? Do they just not care what their kids are doing or are they teaching their kids that this behaviour is acceptable? I honestly think that a lot of bullying could be stopped if parents took control and monitored their children properly.
Unfortunately, a lot of parents are oblivious, or are actually the source of the problem. A--holes have children, too.
Whitney is beautiful, she looks every bit a homecoming queen.
I wish they would scrap these stupid "popularity" contests like queen or king of this and that.....or make some stringent rules about who can be nominated and voted on...only students who's grades meet a high standard and who have no negative marks on their records, detention, etc. If they're going to keep having queens and kings then it should be a true honor to be nominated or win and not just a contest for the "elite" on the social ladder of the school.
It is reassuring to see this community supporting Whitney. Bullying can scare some one for life and communities should stop it. Whitney is a beautiful young lady.
I hope those bullies get exposed who they're instead of the brush off comment like the one the school gave the reporter citing the "privacy" of students. How much more society have to pay for those worthless people who treat other just so they can feed they own ego that they're better. And these comments are keeping them safe.
You go have fun, Whitney. And further on, proof them wrong. Who knows next 20 years from now on, some of them will just still stay there stuck in their own world while you already traveled all over, the real world, of course!
Watch out for a bucket of pigs blood at the election ceremony. I wouldn't put it past some high school bullies to try and do something like that. You know how original they can be...
i really dont get the joke here, someone who hated her nominated her for prom court ,is that correct? i dont see any bullying or harrassment here, if in fact that is the case, the ones involved need to be expelled
They nominated her in order to snicker and laugh at her.....it's the same type of BS that I dealt with back when I was in school. Ever see the movie Carrie? It's pretty much the same thing minus the pig's blood...but then who knows what else they may have had planned....losers.
lol sure i seen carrie, too bad her mother isnt a religious psycho and she doesnt have telekinesis- but if it only went as far as her being nominated and thats it, just bc who nominanted didnt like her is irrelivant, noone committed a crime here, u cant punish someone for intent to laugh at someone else
Obviously you were never bullied and have no idea what it's like. That's exactly how they get away with it...they skirt the rules just enough to get by with it without really getting in trouble and get their jollies at the same time. Just because it's not a "crime" doesn't make it any less disgusting.
For those that don't understand what the joke is....here it is in a nutshell....they know that kids who are teased and bullied a lot long for one thing the most....to be accepted, to be one of those kids who are the "in" kids, the popular kids who seem to have all the friends, get all the perks, and don't go through the heartbreak and torture of constant harassment over pretty much everything including things they can't control (like looks, what kind of clothes they wear if they come from a less well off family, etc). So what they do is they set it up to make the bullied kid think that they've actually finally been accepted and their dream has come true....and then they pull the rug out from under them by laughing at them and humiliating them in front of everyone so that it's clear to the bullied kid that it was all a big joke and their dream has not come true and they are the laughing stock of the school. It's disgusting, pathetic, and sick minded. I dealt with bullies from kindergarten all the way through graduation so I know how they work and what disgusting, spineless, worthless pieces of crap they truly are.
Please. We all know exactly what's going to happen. Absolutely NOTHING is going to happen to the "popular" kids that did this, the faculty and School Board are going to look the other way, and after her 15 minutes are up, this poor girl is going to be the subject of so much black-balling and scrutiny that she'll be forced to switch schools. The people that did this are going to be completely un-punished and it's a complete crock.
I agree with the others, I don't get the joke. She is pretty enough to actually be the homecoming queen, who could be prettier? Vig Dow, ludvig, agreed!
God some kids are so f*cked up! Makes me sick that there are actually people out there that would treat someone like that, just pure hatred. I hope these punks get what's coming to them. Karma's a b*tch!
shes a pretty girl and whoever nominated her would have to actually have to go and then vote for her along with many others for her to win, and the only ones whod be snickering are who, a cpl of toxic waste, little kunts and pricks? ha big effin deal, and the rest of the class who voted for her wouldnt be any the wiser and shed go to school next day with crown she legit won or whatever it is u get. i think the entire town should refuse to do business with the parents of those brats every single business owner say to parent of those brats get the f out my store or ill call the cops and then they need to do it no groceries for you go to the next town bc u aint gettin squat here, thats the day when the parents of those steamin pile of filth wake the fcuk up and kick the teeth down those brats throat everyone in community needs to sit on the lawns of the brats familys with shot guns!
But see...that's the psychological f**king that bullies do....this girl if others hadn't stepped in would have gotten no joy from winning because she would have been wondering the whole time whether she had really legitimately won or not or thought "If they hadn't been making fun of me and wanting to bully me, they wouldn't have nominated me in the first place and I wouldn't even have this...therefore I really didn't 'win' it." It's the mind game of bullies and they are masters at making something that should be a positive feel like a negative. And it wouldn't take long especially in a small school for the most popular bullies to get word around for everyone to vote for her in order to get their kicks by making fun of her after she won. Crap like that travels fast. Like I said, I lived through it, I know pretty much every play in their playbook now.
the pop clique are only how many 5 -10 ppl? thats not near enough to win if only they the kunts and pricks vote for her as a joke, all the rest of the class who arent pricks and kunts shed know did legit vote for her. is all im sayin, and abt the psychology clearly shes not cowering over it shes standin up for herselfagainst ppl who shouldnt even be givent he time of day in a clock shop i think shes need to bring a baseball bat to school and smash their heads in- good night irene
This Prank so called joke so many do not get it? try a little put yourself in her shoes for one moment, it had nothing to do with her obvious good looks, it has to do with being in in the clic maybe she was better than them in many ways and probably is. why they did it? made her the mark, the target of their abuse. is very simple, HER TENDER SOUL now you should get it. I being male apologize for all the stupid sleazeball superficial comments made by those above.
if you dont have the courage to stand up to the adversity in hs, just get home schooled ,theres psycho haters everywhere and its the parents fault, they r the ones who need to be fined- your brat bullied someone ok - now the victim own your car, do it again, now they own your house. and hopefully some parents will have the balls to break each and everyone of the brats arms and legs
th entire community needs to make those brats and their parents AFRAID, VERY VERY AFRAID! Sometimes u gotta fight fire with fire
with some luck they soon will be draggin lake michigan for brats bodies before their filthy corpses polute it
and rally around shouldnt mean , lets just throw money at the victim, i'll pay for the bullets
Am I the only one that has a problem with her shoes on the kitchen counter?
yes
Whitney is such a young lovely lady who deserves the best in life. I am so glad that there are decent people in her small town with some decency. As for the bullies / pranksters...they should not be permitted to attend the Homcoming. That way they can learn poetic justice and know what it feels for the joke to be on them.
I hope Whitney has a great time at Homecoming and can see that she is far above some of these juvenile classmates. You can only hope they learn something from this about how to treat others and don't grow into juvenile adults. Picking on a girl who is quiet, polite and kind? Really? They must have been jealous ...
i was a victim of a bully where do i sign up to get free stuff? lets go to all the high schools and find the victim of bullies and give them all free stuff, thatll change everything ,wont it? lets blog about each and every victim of a bully in high school and pay them. because rally around means one thing pay for all the victims prom crap right? anythng else??
Your bitterness still haunts you, huh? Let it go already, enjoy life. The "free stuff" is not the point - the point here is the community is rallying around this girl as a way of declaring that bullying is not acceptable.
i wasnt bullied, dopey. im saying that a rally doesnt mean give money and thats it which is the case here untill a crime was committed if intimidation or menacing is the case they need expulsion and the bullies parents pay not throw money at all the victims bc that way thats all they will ever be- victims
So puff.... sounds to me like you were the bully.... where did you end up in life?
First of all this school obviously needs to do something about bullying. The adults, school administration and teachers all need to put together and enforce their non-bullying tolerance. This is not a JOKE...it is a serious matter...what if this young lady was the next "victim" of bullying and the outcome turned tragic because she could not cope. Then these young students who nominated her would be up on manslaughter charges because they would have caused someone to "end" their life due to humiliation. We have read those stories before. Thank God in this circumstance this young lady has support from her community and will put her head high and attend the homecoming (I'm sure looking beautiful, like a queen). As a middle school teacher who teaches about this, I will be referring to this case. As educators, parents, adults we MUST teach our young that this is NOT acceptable behavior and those parents of the few who did this a s a joke in this town should be ashamed as parents!!!!!!!!!
assault and battery or menacing and assault mean these ppl need to be arrested, aside from that , if someone cant 'cope' with a cpl of sniviling haters and all it would take is ignoring them, then that person has alot bigger problems than a few jerks who want to laugh at ppl that just simply arent in their clique
pufffff-Obviously this hasn't happened to you so you can't understand. We all get that. Now go change your kitty litter.
agreed Men,meh, you cant understand why it is a problem until you've been there. I have been there my most of my life and it leaves scars, maybe not physically but emotionally and mentally. I would bet that puffff was never treated badly for no reason by his or her peers, which means either he or she was a bully themself, or was a bystander just watching, which is just as guilty or maybe even worse.
Being a parent, this makes me sick. I know children can be cruel but this is over the top. If this was my child, I would be furious. I hope she goes to the dance. If there are good parents that have children in that school, they will ensure that their children support her. I wish this young girl the best.
According to the school's website, a special board meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening. DESCRIPTION: Student Expulsion Meeting
Hmm, I wonder why they'd convene a special meeting regarding student expulsion...
Hopefully to rid the school of those who did this because they thought this would be funny. Glad to see that the real joke is on them though.
Hopefully to rid the school of those who did this because they thought this would be funny. Glad to see that the real joke is on them though.
(computer bugged out and sent the comment twice)
Well now im really curious were there confesions? will they expel the whole homecoming court? or just those that voted for her? and how can they prove who was included IN on it? it was so wrong what they did to her and punishment is in order, but how can they truely know these things? and all the details. that is how bullying works spread the blame minimize and collusion. hard to pin it on any one individual if over a hundred kids out of 800 is involved? im just saying someone intially thought to pick her for the mark. Principal has a tough job on this. So glad she is doing well.
Good point. I myself dunno.