Taking dolls to school or college?

I think there was a topic once about bringing your doll to public, or it may have been specifically school as that's the main thing I recall reading. A lot of people were hesitant to do so because of 'safety' issues I guess you could say. It's a great opportunity, yes, but there are risks and all that fun jazz too.

Personally, I wouldn't bring a doll to school. Not because of the creepy doll remarks or strange looks ( after years of being picked on you get used to it XD ) but because I wouldn't have trusted my classmates >>; One grab or yank...yeah...Then again, I'm just overly protective of my belongings. XD So. *shrugs* Maybe if it were smaller, say MSD sized...but my boys are far too big to keep hidden if I need to do so. >w< I really must get a carrier!

 

I'm at university now, but I don't think I would ever have dared bring a doll to school - I don't care what others think of me, but I'd be too worried about the doll getting damaged or stolen. I had enough to worry about just keeping an eye on my phone, wallet and iPod.

It might be okay with a smaller doll, but something larger (SD sized and above, maybe even MSD) would be impractical.

 

I'm agree with Selidor. Studying in university now too and knowing my groupmates, there are too much risks (as grabbing, dropping, stealing etc). I do not care what others think of me, but safety first))

 

Personally, I wouldn't take my doll to school. Not at ALL because of embarrassment (I'm not embarrassed of much), but more because I'd be so nervous of the doll getting bumped out of my hands or grabbed away or something terrible. :S
I do bring my smaller dolls to the comic book store now and then to meet up with other BJD friends, but that's about it. I just don't trust how people who don't know about BJDs will react when they come in contact with my dolls.
Just more out of safety.
Though I DO bring my dolls to conventions, which is dangerous too, but at least more people are aware of BJD's at cons, and my dolls stay in their carry bags or at the doll table most of the time.

 

I have brought my dolls to school, to show them to people who already expressed interest. Several other people have stopped to admire them and compliment me on the or ask if I made those clothes myself etcetera. My school is full of creative weirdo's anyways so I don't think I got many strange looks or at least I haven't noticed Some people have mentioned they think they're a bit creepy, but I don't mind. They didn't go like "Omg creepy doll get it away!" but just casually mentioned it
Last monday I had an assessment and I brought my dolls too,since they're a source of inspiration and another outlet for my creativity. It went really well

 

If I had one in high school, I wouldn't have brought it. Other students are too destructive of the properties of others and I'm quite sure something would have happened to it the second I wasn't looking.

 

In my country, you're prohibited from bringing anything that isn't school related. School is for learning, not bringing toys. So if you're found carrying something other than your homework and textbooks, it will be confiscated and you will never see them again. And there's no point hiding your stuff, some schools has a habit of springing surprise checks by rummaging through your bags just to make sure you're not carrying any contraband.

So yea, I would never risk having a few hundred dollar doll taken from me at school, no matter how much I want to show them off, or show how "edgy" I want to be.

 

It's nice to introduce the hobby to other people by showing what you can do with a doll and what the buzz is about. It's something else to force a rather arbitrary interest upon other people.
I know a lot of people like horses and I admit they are beautiful, but do not force me to touch them! (horse phobia) I can imagine that when other people don't care about your hobby they will be annoyed if you keep shoving it under their noses. I don't care what other people think about my hobbies, but I do care about what other people do and don't like to be bothered with.

I graduated before I got my first BJD, but I don't think I would have brought them to school or university if I would have had them back then. There are moments I just don't have time for hobbies and my life isn't just about dolls. Actually I'm quite fine to be without them for a while. It makes me appreciate them more.

 

When I was at school BJDs hadn't been invented yet and the only Animé on TV was Captain Harlock and Starblazers.

Saying that, I used to bring my wargaming stuff to boarding school when I was about fourteen / fifteen and everyone respected each others stuff and took an actual interest in each other as people, but when you're in close community with 100 other kids you soon learn how to live and let live.

I think that boarding school graduates tend to have different attitudes to non-boarding kids. We had no time for bullies, and they soon got dealt with in the dorms at nights. Same with thieves - you got a rep for thieving and you were soon ostracised by your peers until you learned not to steal.

And no, it was nothing like Harry Potter, by the way...

Phil.

 

I highly recommend you don't bring your doll to school. School is a place of learning where there are enough things going on without you having to complicate it with a big doll that can draw negative attention to you. Unless you have a BJD extra-curricular club or a Japanese/Asian culture club your doll would be a relevant part of, your dolls have no business being in school. For your safety and for the safety of your doll leave your doll at home.

There is a big difference between caring what other people think about you and taking care of your doll. Some people aren't afraid what other people think of them, but they don't want strangers grabbing, damaging or possibly stealing their doll. When you do something in public that is out of the ordinary, you have to be prepared for all the possibilities. You can't predict what people will do if you push your hobby on them as Muisje said.

 

QFE. You cannot force people to like your dolls and shoving them in their face over and over will most likely result in annoyance. Not everyone likes your hobby. So what?

 

Not caring what other people think of you is good. Many people spend far too much time worrying about what everyone else is thinking and trying to have every little thing about them accepted by every single person.
However, if a person does not care what others think, why bother to take an expensive hobby item out in public just to get other people used to said hobby item so that they do not think that it is creepy/weird/absurd? Worrying about people disliking dolls or trying to get people to not think dolls are creepy is caring what others think.

 

I'm pretty sure if I brought my doll to school, both of us would be the center of ridicule and jokes... I don't think many people would respect us, so I think I'd rather keep my doll at home where he is safe and cared for. No one would appreciate him the way I do at school, especially since many kids are jerks anyways...

 

I think this isn't a good idea at all. For one, imagine people who are afraid of dolls! They'd be stuck in a rather confined space with one, knowing that it was there, even if you put it away.

Two, the possibilities for something going wrong are HUGE. Wig getting lost and picked up, maybe thrown away, fingers breaking, someone trying to steal or break your doll or someone grabbing for it and dropping or staining.

Three, and most importantly: school is not playtime. This should be reason enough in and of itself. School is for learning. Not for bringing our things to show off and play with, distracting ourselves and everyone around us. Heck, you're pretty likely to have the doll confiscated by the teacher.

Really, why is it so important for everyone to 'accept' our hobby? I'm quite happy with most people having no idea about my dolls, and would rather keep it that way. It actually raises the risk for when I do take them out, since more people knowing=more market and more people knowing the price. Really. Why is it soooo important to have everyone "like totally get" the hobby, especially at school? It's more likely they won't suddenly have a revelation and go "Oh! Those dolls are totally cool and okay!" It's far more likely that they'll make you an object of ridicule.

 

This. I agree with Jescissa, just keep dolls at home unless its for a specific project like Art or Photography or sewing. School time is school time, fun time is fun time. Going to school (or University or work) is to learn/work not to play. Its also safer for the doll and you to keep it at home, you never know what could happen to it.

Also with Muisje, its a good thing to be yourself and know what you like. But personally I reckon pushing your hobby onto them to accept is not okay, its more or less doing what you don't want them to do. Thinking other people don't accept and trying to get you to be normal is the same as forcing your hobby on another and getting them to agree with you. I think people are more accepting when you introduce the hobby as a normal aspect of your life rather than shoving it in someone' face. If you act normally about it, people see it as normal, if you act awkardly about it then it would seem awkard and odd.

 

I was in school (including university and art school) for a lot of years, but I didn't have BJDs during most of that time. However, like some of the other people, I would have never taken a doll to school, not because I'm concerned with people thinking I'm weird, but simply because I don't tend to take 500-dollar items with me to school where they might get damaged or broken. There would have been no place secure to store my doll during the time I was elsewhere, say in the gym or in a science lab, both of which would be dangerous places for an expensive resin doll. When lockers were available they were usually too small for a breakable doll and not that secure.

Maybe if it was a tiny I could keep in my pocket, but still, tinies tend to cost 200 dollars and that's just too expensive to be dragging around a busy school full of people all day, especially when there are always students who don't respect other people's property.

I did bring in the collectible dolls I had a couple of times for show and tell. Once I brought in a set of four little dolls and naturally someone had to grab one and make off with it and I had to track it down, even though it turned out the girl who took it meant no harm and likely would have given it back, it was still kind of an expensive/ valuable doll.

So no, I would not take my dolls to school. It's just common sense, I don't want anything to happen to them while I'm busy with what the teachers need me to do.

 

everybody already makes fun of me i dont want things to get worst D:
PLUS, i dont want my doll to be damaged...
but if i had a puki maybe i'll bring it. its small, cute. ppl dont have to see it and they might not think its as creepy

 

I've taken all three of my dolls to school :3 It's fun. Lots of people are interested, some are creeped out, and I get to explain the hobby to an entire class (has happened more then once) Even if they think they're creepy, the people are interested on how they're put together and such.

Though agreed, it's distracting. So I only bring my dolls on days such as half days, or days like benchmarks and TAKS testing where they'll stay in my bad for testing, then out for the rest of the day when nothing's happening.

Sometimes I do bring them on Tuesdays for Anime Club, and they stay in the bag till the club.

So if you have the precautions, I think you should go for it :3 Only if you're comfortable though.

 

Like alot said, I don't think I would have the courage to bring my dolls to school, not because of what people will think of me, but because of the damage it could get. In high school it was already hard for me to keep MYSELF from being "damaged"
LOOK IT'S A GINGER LETS TROW SNOWBALLS/ROCKS AT HER!

I think now in college it would be easier to bring a doll, but that would get me too much attention, wich I don't want at all. (NOT the looks or anything, but the teacher asking about it and making a big deal about it, gosh, I don't want the teacher to take 20min of the class talking about it) And also there are some grabby people that just think that because we are in the same program, that we see everyone everyday that they have the right to touch/grab things that doesn't belong to them...

 

I don't have a problem with bringing strange things to school at all,
I'm very well known to be the artsy person whose always got new neat crafts and odds. Usually the people at my school are pretty excited with the things i bring and i get comments about "what are you going to bring next?!" everyday XD
And 've been telling them of the couples of dolls that will be arriving soon and i've probably convinced over 6 people to get their own as soon as i bring them.
I even managed to convince the school to invest money into their own bjds XD
for classes like photographics and sewing, media, ect.
LOL
i'm pretty respected when it comes to odd things like this xD Everyday the teachers and fellow students and friends come up to me asking about my incoming Zen XD
They can't wait to see him along with the others XD