Bullying

Cyber bullying is the latest cry from all kinds of different directions. And I can appreciate how tragic this kind of behavior can be, with young boys and girls being outed and taunted by way of the Internet, causing some to commit suicide. When will such cruelty end? I think back to my youth and try to remember what then might have constituted bullying. Most of it was physical, anything to cause pain in someone weaker than the bully and without leaving marks. The old wedgie that many laughed at as a prank against someone weaker. Funny? I don’t think so. Tickling someone who is ticklish is cruel, especially when the tickling goes on and on, until the victim is crying. And it doesn’t leave a physical mark. Goosing someone who is goosey is cruel, and it doesn’t leave a mark. Twisting an ear, or finger-flicking a nose, or the old nipple pinch, or the double-handed twist of flesh on the lower arm, none of which leaves a mark. Then there’s the punching to the stomach or the upper arm, painful but not leaving much of a mark. The old version of psychological bullying always involved laughter, derision. Mocking someone shorter than normal, calling them shorty or stump or midget or mouse. Mocking someone overweight, calling them tubby or fatso or lardass. Mocking young people not certain of their sexual orientation, calling them fag or faggot or queer. Mocking anyone less attractive than their attackers, calling them Frankenstein or big-nose or crosseyes or elly-ears. Mocking anyone less intelligent than their attackers, calling them stupid or dumbo or dum-dum. And frightening anyone who is easily frightened is as much bullying as any of the other forms. Ellen DeGeneris, hear me when I say you must have a cruel streak when you take such enjoyment out of frightening Amy or any of your guests. Ellen, you’re a bully.