I wish all bullies filmed their handiwork
Arm bullies with cameras
Fairfield Daily Republic | June 28, 2012
By Kelvin Wade
Like millions of others, I was horrified by the viral video of 68-year-old bus monitor Karen Klein being taunted and harassed by middle school students in Rochester, N.Y.
Watching it, one can’t help but wonder if this is how the bus monitor is treated, what hope does an individual student have on that bus? Still, what the video has wrought has been inspiring in many ways.
The nation is suitably outraged over an important subject. We’ve taken to Facebook, Twitter, blogs and bar stools and have denounced these cruel kids, questioned their parents’ ability and poured out sympathy (and dollars) for the victim.
One thing we haven’t done is thank the youngster who filmed the abuse. Thanks to the kid who thought his friends would get a kick out of the video when he posted it to Facebook. (And thanks to “CapitalTrigga,” who had nothing to do with the abuse, who posted it to YouTube.)
The idea of filming themselves doing stupid and incriminating acts is something that has caught on with young people from coast to coast. Increasingly, district attorneys are prosecuting cases using evidence provided to them by the defendants themselves. We’ve had local violent crime cases that involved cellphone videos and videos uploaded to social media. The hubris and stupidity of young people with cellphone cameras is a great asset to public safety.
We must encourage parents who are raising foul-mouthed, disrespectful brats to supply said kids with excellent video-capable cellphones. Make sure your troll of a son or daughter can use the camera and has a Facebook or YouTube account to upload their pictures and videos. Adequate lighting is quite important as well.
Bus monitor Klein has stated that these kids harassed her before. But if they hadn’t chosen to film this verbal assault and post it on Facebook, the world would’ve never known about this. Thanks, kids.
I would encourage all bullies to film their handiwork. Take an establishing shot of yourself first, frame the victim and go ahead and do what your disturbed mind leads you to do. Your parents should be proud. I’m certain your parents’ friends, coworkers and employers will all chime in on what kind of job they’re doing raising you.
Naturally, I don’t want anyone to be bullied or abused. But we’re living in times where too many parents are abdicating their role in raising respectful, disciplined kids. The “bystander effect” often freezes bystanders in place when bullying is going on around them. Too many leave it up to someone else to get involved or fear becoming targets of bullying themselves, so they don’t intervene.
As long as we have parental collapse, juvenile miscreants and silent witnesses, we can at least hope the kids are stupid enough to film their activities and upload it online.
For years we thought that public shaming was a thing of the past. But this case has told a different story. And parents had better use this as a teachable moment to set their kids straight on how to treat people. Instill some “act right,” as my parents would call it.
Either that or make sure you get them a good quality smartphone and brace yourself for the fallout. Peace.
Fairfield Daily Republic | June 28, 2012
By Kelvin Wade
Like millions of others, I was horrified by the viral video of 68-year-old bus monitor Karen Klein being taunted and harassed by middle school students in Rochester, N.Y.
Watching it, one can’t help but wonder if this is how the bus monitor is treated, what hope does an individual student have on that bus? Still, what the video has wrought has been inspiring in many ways.
The nation is suitably outraged over an important subject. We’ve taken to Facebook, Twitter, blogs and bar stools and have denounced these cruel kids, questioned their parents’ ability and poured out sympathy (and dollars) for the victim.
One thing we haven’t done is thank the youngster who filmed the abuse. Thanks to the kid who thought his friends would get a kick out of the video when he posted it to Facebook. (And thanks to “CapitalTrigga,” who had nothing to do with the abuse, who posted it to YouTube.)
The idea of filming themselves doing stupid and incriminating acts is something that has caught on with young people from coast to coast. Increasingly, district attorneys are prosecuting cases using evidence provided to them by the defendants themselves. We’ve had local violent crime cases that involved cellphone videos and videos uploaded to social media. The hubris and stupidity of young people with cellphone cameras is a great asset to public safety.
We must encourage parents who are raising foul-mouthed, disrespectful brats to supply said kids with excellent video-capable cellphones. Make sure your troll of a son or daughter can use the camera and has a Facebook or YouTube account to upload their pictures and videos. Adequate lighting is quite important as well.
Bus monitor Klein has stated that these kids harassed her before. But if they hadn’t chosen to film this verbal assault and post it on Facebook, the world would’ve never known about this. Thanks, kids.
I would encourage all bullies to film their handiwork. Take an establishing shot of yourself first, frame the victim and go ahead and do what your disturbed mind leads you to do. Your parents should be proud. I’m certain your parents’ friends, coworkers and employers will all chime in on what kind of job they’re doing raising you.
Naturally, I don’t want anyone to be bullied or abused. But we’re living in times where too many parents are abdicating their role in raising respectful, disciplined kids. The “bystander effect” often freezes bystanders in place when bullying is going on around them. Too many leave it up to someone else to get involved or fear becoming targets of bullying themselves, so they don’t intervene.
As long as we have parental collapse, juvenile miscreants and silent witnesses, we can at least hope the kids are stupid enough to film their activities and upload it online.
For years we thought that public shaming was a thing of the past. But this case has told a different story. And parents had better use this as a teachable moment to set their kids straight on how to treat people. Instill some “act right,” as my parents would call it.
Either that or make sure you get them a good quality smartphone and brace yourself for the fallout. Peace.
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