[EBKatie]

A five-year-old American boy was allowed to do just that but his mother was shocked by the reaction she received from family when she posted a photo of him in the shoes to her Facebook page. The photo has since gone viral and sparked a heated debate online.

Would you allow your child to wear something that you thought would get them bullied or would you encourage them to express themselves no matter the cost?

[kpingitquiet]

If kids are getting bullied in preschool for damn shoes, then there are bigger issues. I am so sick of this. It is 50% possible that our next child will be a boy. Our existing child is a girl. I never questioned putting my daughter in red and black dinosaur clothes from the boys dept or blue tennis shoes. Why would I blink if my son wanted rainbows and pink polkadots? I am just so damned sick of it all. Get over it, people. If your kid or grandchild or some random stranger's child is gay it's nothing to do with what colors they wear. But wtg on setting them up for self-doubt, self-hate, regardless of what their orientation turns out to be

[jameses mum]

Absolutely.Pink zebra striped shoes would be fabulous.

Colour does not have a gender (wasn't there a recent thread on a similar topic?)

Pink is my horse-riding, rodeo-loving typical boy's favourite colour. If it is pink and sparkly, so much the better.
Sexual orientation/preference is innate, not determined by letting your son wear pink/daughter wear blue and I get very snarky at people who think it is.

It is just a colour people!

[Bluenomi]

Wouldn't bother me. I was the story yesterday and thought it was cute he picked them because they were zebra print and he loves zebras.

[Sunnycat]

Yes. Really other people need to get over their own issues and stop caring about what other people wear. I would probably explain to my DS that he might get teased as some people are narrow minded and let him decide if he'd still like to wear them. I wouldn't disallow him wanting to wear a pair of shoes.

[vanessa71]

I wouldn't send him in shoes like that, as they would not be the style of shoe we would look for when buying shoes, however DS went to kinder in a pink shirt a few days ago.

[muminbusiness]

Totally and utterly would let him! My master five loves his pink sparkly ballet dress. He adores his sister putting nail polish on him. Plus he loves doing "guy" stuff to:)

[JustBeige]

My first thought was "Of course I would" but when I actually thought in true terms and not what should happen.

honestly, no I probably wouldnt. I have no problem with them personally - my son had lots of pink stuff as a younger child and still has a pink teddy - but I think its my job to keep them safe and one of those ways is to not knowingly make them the target of ridicule. I think this is a time and place thing.



*not saying its OK the way society is, just saying that we need to live within this society and children are in no way equiped to deal with bullying and ridicule at this age - hell at any age*

This post has been edited by JustBeige: 13/12/2012, 11:00 AM

[~*Twilight~Zone*...]

The only issue I have with his shoes is that it clashes with the rest of his ensemble.

[Chubbles]

No I wouldn't. I might after he had been for awhile but not on his first day. Unfortunately wether we like it or not kids pick on each other. i would hate for him to be targeted because of his shoes. I would let him go a few times and if he feels comfortable after that he could wear them if he wanted to.