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Diddy is the new ‘D word.’
New York City public school kids as young as 8 are making Diddy-themed jokes and comments in class – and some parents are so upset over the “heartbreaking” trend they want schools to ban the disgraced music mogul’s name in schools altogether.
Mom Vanessa Mejia couldn’t believe her ears when her 8-year-old daughter – a third-grader at PS 11 in Chelsea – told her that one of her classmates yelled, “Welcome to my Diddy party!” in class one day this week.
“I was just extremely shocked by it, because these kids are so young,” Mejia, 40, told The Post.
“And then my second thought was, who knows how much information this boy had on the whole [Diddy] situation? Because if he is well-informed, did he really mean to say that? Or was it that he didn’t know what it meant?” she said.
Mejia said her daughter has heard the name Diddy – but not the details of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged crimes following his Sept. 16 arrest on federal racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. Combs, 55, is accused of leading a twisted criminal empire for over a decade, and forcing women to participate in drugged-up sex parties.
“It’s not kid-friendly information,” she said. “So if that little boy knows more information about [Diddy] than he should, who knows what is going to be told to all the other kids?”
“I think it would be a good idea” to ban kids from uttering Combs’ name in schools altogether, Mejia continued.
She expressed her concerns in an email to her daughter’s teacher, and received a phone call from the school’s assistant principal the next day.
The administrator “had a talk with all the kids involved. . .I’m glad she took it seriously,” Mejia said.
Other parents agreed the school should take action on the ‘D-word.’
“It’s terrible. . . . kids are making fun of a situation that has harmed a lot of people. I don’t think that has a place here and it should be addressed,” said Jose Luis Guerra, who son and daughter go to the school.
“Certain things like that, these kids don’t need to know,” echoed Jess, the mother of a 10-year-old girl in fifth grade.
A recent Facebook post by Meija amassed over a dozen comments on the growing and troubling trend.
“This is something that is becoming a regular saying among middle school kids. It’s driving me nuts. My son’s teacher said all the kids are saying it. . . . They think [it’s] hilarious. So everything is ‘Diddy this’ and ‘Diddy party that,’” one woman commented.
An educator at a Brooklyn charter school chimed in: “I told my students if they said it I’m calling home and they have to explain what it means to their parents. Now I rarely hear it.”
Department of Education spokesperson Jenna Lyle said that the DOE responds to students using hateful or offensive language by meeting with their family or offering individual counseling and supports.
“School is a place of learning and growth, and we are proud that our buildings are filled with dedicated and talented educators who can use these instances as teachable moments for our youngest New Yorkers,” Lyle said.
