North Carolina School Bans 9-Year-Old's My Little Pony Backpack After Violent Bullying and Threats

A North Carolina elementary school banned a 9-year-old student's My Little Pony backpack, after the child encountered daily bouts of bullying.

Buncombe County school officials said Grayson Bruce was constantly picked on because of the fuzzy blue bag, which featured the face of pony Rainbow Dash. The student's mother, Noreen Bruce, told USA Today that the bullying became so intense, her son barely wanted to attend classes.

"He didn't even want to get out of the car because kids were being really mean," Noreen said during an interview with USA Today Network.

She then reportedly sought out the help of the school counselor, who gave some unexpected advice.

"One of her suggestions was to hide it," Noreen stated. "She said that if you have something like this, you're asking for trouble."

The principal of the school later called Noreen on the phone, and instructed the mother to keep the knapsack at home.

But Noreen wouldn't stand for it.

"I said, 'You're missing the picture here,'" she told USA Today. "'You're telling him that it's OK for them to make fun of him.'"

Grayson expressed fear of returning to the school campus, after the bullying escalated.

"One kid told him to go home to kill himself," Noreen said. "Things I can't believe 9-year-olds are saying to each other."

Noreen decided to pull Grayson from the school and teach him from home until she can enroll him in a new school next fall. But she will first meet with the superintendent of the school on Thursday to discuss the bullying.

"We want to talk to them about how the staff handled it and what's going to happen in the future," Noreen added. "Maybe there's other things we can do, more training, more assemblies. There's gotta be a better way."

Communications director for Buncombe County Schools Jason Rhodes wrote in a statement that the school "wants to resolve the issue," but couldn't say much more.

"First and foremost, our schools take any allegations of bullying seriously and work diligently in all cases to resolve the issues in the best interest of students," he stated in the release. "We have programs in place to prevent, report and intervene to keep our students safe and protected."