Should it be illegal to give kids stupid/horrendous names?

[bam13302]

no, im not saying its good to be naming ur kids these names, but this isnt something there should be laws about, the kids should be in the hands of the parents/community, not the government

 

[warprincenataku]

I dunno, I doubt anyone is going to pick on my kids, Sub-Zero and Scorpion.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Well...
Obviously, the bullies shouldn't be bullying in the first place, BUT, since they do anyway, and the parents know that that's what kids can do, the parents are at fault.

Actually, one pair of parents are at fault. Though it isn't the parents of the kid getting picked on, it is the parents of the bullies who are at fault. It is these parents who have evidently failed miserably in teching their offspring what behaviour constitutes as acceptable and what kind of behaviour doesn't. And if other parents then pick a course of action that let's these neglective parents get away with their irresponsible actions towards their own children, the cycle will continue.

If no one steps up and challenges the status quo, nothing will ever change.

Think about this analogy: there is a madman (the bully) driving down the street at full speed in a pickup truck; there is a mother who throws her son out into the road (giving him a stupid name) - the kid is gonna get mowed down (bullied). It doesn't matter if the mother thinks "well, that man shouldn't be allowed to run my poor Moonshine over - I don't want to give in to him (the bullis), so I'll do it anyway!".
Now think, if that man was sitting in his vehicle, stationary (not bullying), the kid wouldn't have a chance of being run over, so it would be fine (if a little weird) for the mother to throw the kid out on to the road (give him a stupid name).

So your example is sort of equating giving a child an odd sounding name to be an act of procovation? That it is somehow a "hostile" action?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have interpreted your views as being like "as long as we don't "give in to" bullies, it's fine that my little Boggis gets emotionally scarred for the rest of his life" - it would seem you put your pride over your child's emotional wellbeing.
[If this ISN'T a fair observation, please correct me and tell me what your views REALLY are]

Fine, I'll correct you. My view isn't really about letting kids become emotionally scarred for life out of pride. It's about enforcing the laws of the society in which we live in. Also I don't believe that you become emotionally scarred for life by experiencing harassment of bullies. Mainly because I have personally been subjected to it. And I mean really bad shit like constant harassment and even getting beat up by four older boys at the same time.

Of course, now one might try to argue that im somehow "stronger" than other people, and that others aren't as strong and they instead become emotionally scarred for life by the experience. But that isn't really the issue. The main reason why some become scarred for life while others don't despite suffering through the same ordeal is because the scarred ones prett much NEVER have anybody to turn to who is willing to help them or give a perspective about what's right or what's wrong.

After all, kids rarely learn anything through what they are told, they learn more about the world through how others ACT. Bullies ACT in some of the worst possible ways, while school administration as well as parents rarely act at all, but spout platitudes and bullshit while letting the issue persevere and if they DO decide to act, they take the route with the least possible resistance (like placing the VICTIM of the bullying in another class instead of transferring the troublemakers in question).

And that in turn will cause emotional scarring. You get brought up a way that says that you should treat other people with respect, even if you dislike them and not resorting to violence because you have differences of opinion etc. But the kids rarely see this in actual practice, ESPECIALLY in the case of bullying where the bullies pretty much always get away with their unacceptable behaviour.

The only thing that really differentiates myself from those people who do become traumatized by it is that, while my school barely took any notice of the problems, I still had other people around me who agreed with my sense of right and wrong. I never had any reason to question my own actions, because nothing could really warrant the treatment I was subjected to. So most of the time I fought back and didn't yield an inch. Sure I was outnumbered, and sure it was fucking awful some of the time, but even if they could break me physically through numbers and determination, they didn't have a chance of beating me mentally/spiritually. They might have been more successful with that if I hadn't grown up seeing the actual difference between okay behaviour and unacceptable behaviour and seen the latter getting punished through actions and not just by meaningless words and platitudes.

That's why some break, while others die before they break.

And that's why (if it were my kid with the funny name) I would jump at every opportunity to show my kid through practical actions right from wrong and not just talk about it. My own period of getting picked on was mostly a psychological war, and I learned tricks to terrorize and make their life just as miserable as they were trying to make mine.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

There are laws in most places. Or at least some kind of safeguards. And as far as I know, they've never been abused. I've heard plenty of stories about people being forbidden from giving their kids stupid names, but none about people being forbidden from giving them creative but decent ones.

As far as celebrities go, this is one law I'm OK with them being exempt from. Any kid of a celebrity isn't going to get picked on in school, because their parents are fucking celebrities. If they do get picked on, it'll be because their parents are the washed-up has-been kind of celebrities (like Tom Cruise), not because of their name.

Yes, and as far as I know, it is. In Alberta, anyways. Doctors will refuse to name your kids something sometimes. I'm not sure how it works. There was a news article on it once and they had lists of names that were rejected.

The list included Morpheus, Apple, and Spatula.

Yes, Spatula. How stupid do you have to be to try to name your kid Spatula?

*snobbish snort* It is pronounced "Spa-TEW-la"! You know... rhymes with "Talulah Does the Hula" [http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/24/familyandrelationships.newzealand].

I remember reading a story about someone in the US who named their kids after Adolf Hitler. The kids were taken away and their names were changed.

Although they might've been taken away for something other than the names.

The parents were actual Nazis. That probably factored into it. Although I also don't know what US law makes it illegal to be Nazis and raise kids. I mean, hell, they let people from the Westboro Baptist Church have kids, which is really the only reason that incest compound church still survives.

 

[Ashendarei]

No new legislation, but maybe lowering the age that you need to be for an official name change to 16? at least then you aren't stuck with your ENTIRE high school / college career with a name you hate.

 

[Deadpool062]

I know someone named Mercedes Otto. She doesent get the reference.

 

[toastmaster2k8]

Guy who invented the flame thrower most of had an awesome school life....

 

[SovietX]

Well, its very evident when you talk to people from slums and ghetto districts (Yes we have those in Australia) and you hear their names and its almost laughable. They could never be taken seriously with that name.

Also, every person ive ever met with the name Tyson or Tyrone is an asshole.

 

[pwnzerstick]

Well there are some pretty awsome names that are wierd, but only because they are from some wierd language, like Magnus. Also, how come no one names their kid after famous literary characters, I would totaly want to be named Odysseus.

 

[Zantos]

A quick question related closely to the thread and based on an arguement i had the other week. Does where a name comes from make it bad, or is that solely based on the name. For instance, i think Thane would be a good name because it's quite interesting and i like the way it sounds without it being really really stupid.

My friend however believes it's a bad name, because i got it from a mass effect 2 character. Does anyone have any feelings either way? Not to this specific name, but just to the whole idea of getting names from games/films/whatever (providing they arent ridiculous).

Thane, Thane... what is your current country of residence?

I'm in england. Why, is it a regional thing?

 

[Captain-Giggles]

My friends were and I were discussing after seeing Tron (How this conversation came up I have no idea) that if you can give your child names like Hope and Faith can you go the other way and call them Uncertainty and Heresy?

 

[v3n0mat3]

No, but it should be considered abuse, depending on the name.

 

[hadoken123]

I knew a guy named Richard Eater.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

When ever I hear a silly name I say to the person "At least it's better then Apple"

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Giving theme an odd name? Like naming a boy Sue?
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I don't know. Making it illegal seems kinda silly and anal, but I personally wouldn't name my kid anything too odd. I mean, sure their name would be unique, but how fast do you think that uniqueness would take to get old? After the umpteenith joke made about their name I'm sure they'd get pretty tired of it. Sure they could change it, but just because they can change a ridiculous name later on doesn't mean you should give them one in the first place.

 

[the Dept of Science]

Well, like all these things, we must respect the opinion of Johnny Cash:


Personally, I think that there should be certain rules and regulations written up. I do say that there should be a clause which states "Unless you are Frank Zappa, in which case go nuts".

EDIT: Oh wow, thats the most ridiculous ninja I've ever seen. 6 pages without a mention of that song and then I miss it by a minute or two.