It is interesting that for all the cultural concern about bullying, we seem relatively unable to deter it. The Mockingbird blog has some interesting reflections on the recent video of a grandmother being bullied which went viral on video.
I expect by now that most people have heard of or seen the viral youtube video of grandmother and bus monitor Karen Klein being harassed and bullied to tears by small gang of seventh graders. If not, you can youtube it yourself–it’s really too dark and graphic to warrant embedding it in this post. Essentially, what happened is this: while watching kids on the way to school earlier this week, some seventh grade boys surrounded Ms. Klein and began to bully her, physically poking and prodding her while belittling her about her weight, her (assumed) financial state, and the history of suicide in her family. It’s dark stuff–really dark stuff–and you’re better off not watching the video itself. It’s like grandma got dropped in the middle of Lord of the Flies.
What’s made this story different, however, is that the youtube video documenting said harassment has caused a tidalwave of emotional and financial support to Klein. Thousands of emails in support poured in. A crowd-funding social media campaign, hoping to raise $5000 for Klein to take a nice vacation, has raised over $600,000 to date. Klein is being interviewed by just about every major news outlet. Something about Klein’s story has shaken the emotional subconscious of America to its core.
Read the rest here.
