My son got Nikes so he doesn't get teased.

Teach your kid to kick some teeth out with his Skechers. I have a feeling that your kid is going to get bullied no matter what he wears.

The solution to bullying is to do as the bully says /s

Buy him a crowbar.

Ultimate tool against bullying

You're a shit parent if you're just going to give in.

I don't know if this is a bad idea, but recently all the Chinese manufacturers spoke out about how much the products they make actually cost, you can find the exact warehouse that makes them, and order directly from them, at a ridiculous mark down. Like a 10th of the price, or less. Might be worth some research. I see Adidas sambas for $10, including postage. They're all there. They just don't have the actual name label on them yet, because that's all they do when they reach the distributor, though, so might be useless to you.

Instead of getting him 300$ shoes give him the choice of the cool shoes or the latest coolest video game or the shoes, or whatever hobby he enjoys…

Kids tease other kids because they themselves feel insecure.. that’s literally all it is… if you need Nike shoes to feel secure you’re probably not a cool person anyways

Happened to me. Got Nikes, got teased because they were not a good enough model. Kids are monsters.

Time to find a good counterfeit.

It's not a Nike thing. It's a kid thing. Kids are dicks, sorry

Well understood. His Mom was poor and bullied in school. So much so that she brings it up from time to time. She quickly bought him the shoes. I'm going to work on getting him Vans or Hookas in the future.

At all the schools my kids went to.... Nobody cares. The kids really don't give a shit what other kids are wearing. In some ways it's bizarre given that wasn't the case when I was a kid. But in many ways it's great. I rarely ever hear of bullying, kids just are themselves.

Of course thats woke, because they actually speak to the kids and tell them to consider others and will not tolerate intolerance. So I expect schools like these are few and far between.

I got teased for my shoes. I got better shoes, I got teased for my jacket, I got a better jacket. So then they just made shit up to tease me about.

I saw the fucker that bullied me relentlessly for all three years in middle school about 10 years later. He was pounding stakes in the ground setting up for a carnival. He stopped me in apologized which was kind of surprising. I gave him an absolutely hollow but convincing thanks and what about my day.

I did a little light internet stalking, turns out he's vocal that can't keep a job, construction companies fire him for "no reason" and he's now down to whatever local company will hire him for physical labor. The only truly sad part is he has multiple children with multiple women and will not own up to any of them.

Though, I really suppose I owe a lot of who I am to the hell he put me through. Insults mean fuck all to me and I can ignore stress in a bad situation and make solid decisions.

The specific request is kind of interesting - when I was a kid, everyone had to wear Nikes or get teased. However for my kids, Nikes were always out.

Fads always come in cycles

Is this still happening? It was happening 45 years ago, ffs.

I went through the same Nike crisis when I was in middle school. Had to have them because my friends had them. Instead I got to joke about my "genuine imitation Nikes" from Kmart.

It's painful for kids that want to fit in because because they don't have the wider and wiser perspective that most of us do as adults.

I always thought they were old man shoes. LOL 🤣. I'm I the bully?

Buy him Hokas and have him tell his friends to eat shit.

I got bullied in school for having reasonably priced shoes instead of Nike Air Max. Kids are pathetic.

I always knew shoes weren't going to save my kids from bullying, so I got them karate instead.

The bullying still happened, until they decided it was time for it to stop. Then it stopped.

No matter if you end up getting him a pair or not. Be sure he understands that such things as bullying people for having the “wrong” shoes is shallow clique nonsense and he should be better than that.

Did you try to teach him to be proud of his independence and differences? Maybe you can work with him on nice come backs against the teasing.

I rock my Skechers, android phone, basic Casio watch, and drive my 2003 Suzuki.

I spend my money on stuff that works. Not stuff that's marketed.

I sense marketing bullshit, and it's such a strong turnoff for me.

Pre-teen is the worst age for this. Just try to get your kid past this the best you can. Happens everywhere, eventually they will mature and learn.

Heck, this is always the plot in school movies.

When I was young (in the late 80's) it was Air Jordans.

But, on top of being teased for not having them, you would also get jumped by kids who wanted to steal them from you.

I tried, His Mom agreed and already bought him shoes.

Get him heelys so he can stunt on the haters.

man, when i was a kid i was bullied for reading at recess, or infodumping about inappropriate stuff, or being bad at running. kids these days are so materialist.

I always had Chucks, not because I didn't wanna get teased mind you I just thought they were cool. Kids teased me for different things anyway.

But man, they never really lasted that long. One to one and a half years of daily use, and they doubled in price in the last ~15 years (which maybe isn't that much but I feel the quality went down a bit).

Yeah, working on it

It's the Apple way.

Kids being kids I guess

Now you have to make fun of your kid for being a sheep.

Good for you. Whenever I get this kind of situation with ny kid I think "Will this matter in five years? Will this purchase break the bank?" If not, I buy/allow/rent whatever and move on. It usually does the trick and I don't mind if in my mind it sounds ridiculous or exaggerated, It is not about me but whatever they are going through and as long as they get the tools they need, so be it. Kid is very down to earth and doesn't usually overconsume. The only place where we overspend is the bookstore.

I love Skechers.

dont blame nike, blame the over-consumption introduced by unchecked capitalism. Comparing yourself to your surround has become the norm, leading to an increase in depression and, like you wrote, consuming too much. Americans on average buy 68 new clothing items PER YEAR, PER PERSON!! Maybe dont blame the kids, they are a product of their surrounding. Blame politics, and blame yourself if you have done too little politics in the last decades

Nike marketing aside, sketchers are child abuse.

I’ll tease my kids if they don’t wear Asics

At my school back when I was still in education it was all adidas :3

Nice