Right , and have not read whole thread so someone may have said this, but free speech does not extend to inciting danger. Classic example, can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater.
I think regulation of the social networking on the internet is sadly lacking. The proliferation of bullying, trolling, hacking, defamation, malicious malware, spyware and identity theft is incredible and virtually (no pun intended) unchecked. It is disgusting. Laws must keep pace. Write your congressional reps.
I am a teacher and can tell you meanness is at an all-time high. It is nothing new but people used to be afraid of the consequences from schools and more importantly, parents. Not so much anymore. For example, we used to get by with skipping school or smoking on school grounds but if we threw a punch or harassed someone we were out on our azzes and our parents supported the school. Now, truancy and smoking are punished to an almost absurd degree while bullies run rampant.
Unfortunately this pervasive idea that parents must protect kids from absolutely everything harmful is also one reason why kids doing wrong go unpunished as well. Sorry, know it won't be a popular take, but I believe it. For every legitimate complaint I hear about a kid who needs to be protected, on the other side you can bet there is a parent who will fight to the death to protect their little bullying darling, doing anything they can to see that the kid avoids any consequences. Schools get overwhelmed with the arduous fact-finding and avoid the whole thing.
I have told my kids, I will always help you, but you have to work to keep yourself bully-proof in this environment. Bullying is heartbreaking, the victim's response early-on is key. It is not about blaming the victim, it is about facing reality.
My heart goes out to this family.
Eve
ITA-kids are so much meaner today and I am not sure what the explanation is for this. It has to be partly the parenting, the idea that kids must never be criticized as it might harm their self-esteem (!) which came about in the 90's or so...teachers have been stripped of all power in classrooms as far as any kind of punishment that might humiliate a student, no matter what he/she is doing that might warrant a punishment, parents get outraged and sue school systems if Junior is admonished or gets a lower grade than the parent feels the little treasure should have, etc...all of these things add up to kids obtaining a sense that they can get away with anything and mommy and daddy will jump to their defense...
Most parents want/need to believe that their kids are special...but the parents of many of the people in prisons in this country surely once believed that too...spoiled, unkind kids grow up to be spoiled, unkind adults whose thoughts are only for themselves. This country has become incredibly self-absorbed and the internet only enables this self-love.
Meanwhile, the unfortunate kids who don't have the right look, the right clothes, the right whatever it is that makes other kids single them out are left to fend for themselves as school adminstrators are heistant to take action in so many cases, possibly fearing retribution from the offenders' parents more than fearing for the child being abused. Or they just are ignoring situations rather than be the one to take charge and take action.
Somehow, someway, we have to find a way to re-instill a sense of right and wrong in kids and teens. I don't know what the answer is but I do know that we did not have this kind of bullying back when I was in HS in the late 70's or anything even close to it. Kids were routinely suspended for smoking on school grounds, etc...fighting could mean expulsion. Sure, the jocks always thought they were cooler than everyone else but were so busy trying to impress the cheerleaders, it left little time to worry about the "nerds" and outsiders.
I just have no patience with mean teens...and whatever is the harshest punishment possible in these cases, IMO, needs to be dished out. And if anything can be done to the parents, I'm all for it.
My mother taught high school for many many years and part of her job was to monitor the behavior of kids and dish out punishments, something that seems to have gone by the wayside in the PC era. Where is it getting us as a country to raise kids as though they must never be told they are wrong?
Sorry for the rant...the topic of teens/internet/bullying/violence is really one that sets me off.
