My daughter is being bullied for her 'fake' Stanley cup

"It's a f**king water bottle, why is everyone so obsessed?"

"It's a f**king water bottle, why is everyone so obsessed?"

That's what my 16-year-old son thinks of the Stanley Cup - a large portable vessel for liquids that has taken over social media as the must-have accessories for tweens and teens (and many adults).

Whilst my son is indifferent to the Stanley Cup, he's in the minority for his age group - just a glance at TikTok will show kids freaking out about getting one as a Christmas present, for example. 

But it seems the obsession has gone too far, with one mum this week confessing in a video that the Stanley Cup dupe (the original can range from $70 upwards) she sent her nine-year-old to school with was openly and cruelly sneered at by her classmates.

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"Not as cool"

Dayna Motycka explains in her clip that she bought her daughter a colorful cheetah print insulated tumbler from Walmart as a Christmas gift, which is in a similar shape to the Stanley.

She sent her daughter to school with it, but on the second day back from winter break, the girl came home "upset" because other students had "made sure to let her know" that her cup was "fake" and "not as cool."

The heartbroken mum wanted her daughter to "fit in", so she finally bought her an original -a privilege she acknowledges.

But there's a wider, more significant issue beyond her experience that she wanted to address.

Image: dana_motycka/TikTok

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"This doesn't start with the kids"

"Do I think that a nine-year-old needs a Stanley? No. Do I have one? Yes, I have one," the mum continues.

"Can we afford to buy her a Stanley? Yes. Did I think that she needed one? No.

"Apparently I've been proven wrong by the children in our school that are making fun of her for not having a real name-brand Stanley.

"But this doesn't start with the kids. This starts with us. This starts with parents — with mums. What are we teaching our kids?

"You better believe that if our nine-year-old daughter came home and somehow we found out that she made fun of another girl at school for not having something name-brand, whether it's a Stanley, Lululemon, Uggs, etc, we would be calling the family.

"We would be making her write a note to apologize. We would make her apologize in person."

Acknowledging that she might be judged by fellow parents for eventually buying the Stanley cup to help her daughter fit in, Motycka hopes they can instead focus on the message that material items don't reflect your value or worth, especially since not all parents can afford to buy them.

“We have got to teach our kids to not make other kids feel inferior for not having the things that they have. That's it. That's where it starts and it starts with us as parents."

In the comments section, the mum was supported by others who grew up without name-brand items such as Ugg boots and Coach bags, or trendy clothing brands. Many agreed with Motycka's take beyond this particular incident, with one person noting that, "These moments are so teachable. It's ok to not fit in."

Another viewer took that further, saying, "Teach your children to be kind but to also be confident in themselves to not have the ‘things’ to fit in."

Originally published as My daughter is being bullied for her 'fake' Stanley cup