If I may be bold, I’d say 2016 was an unprecedented year in online/social media bullying. It became very evident that sitting behind one’s computer, or phone, gave free reign to type 140 characters of absolute filth. I abstain from using the word ‘hate’ here, because from my perspective, that word has been used so many times that it has lost its ability to shock. “Hate” has been used, and accused, in so many circumstances, that it’s almost become an obsolete word. I mean, literally. It’s sort of like the boy who cried wolf. If you use the word hate now, in conversation, people actually scoff at it. For me, I believe it’s because we’ve lost the ability to distinguish between genuine hate, and just plain bullying. Because, whether you believe it or not, there is an actual difference.
Bullying. We all know the term. We all know the implications. We all know the effects. It’s time we start looking at this issue from a holistic perspective.
As many of you are probably aware, Meryl Streep talked about bullying just the other night during her Golden Globes acceptance speech for the Cecil B. Demille Award for lifetime achievement. Meryl Streep is quite obviously a brilliant actress, one who has been admired and celebrated for years. In her acceptance speech, I wasn’t surprised that she took the opportunity to be a political advocate for her beliefs. Many of the millions of viewers applauded her for this speech.
In her speech, in which she didn’t acknowledge her intended individual by name, she mentioned an incident that happened over a year ago in which the President-elect Donald Trump was accused of mocking the expressions of a press reporter with a disability. While Donald Trump has denied the accusation, I applaud Ms. Streep’s call to awareness over this alleged act of bullying. Still, when mentioning the ‘hooks in her heart’ that still hadn’t dissipated to this day due to that incident, I did have to wonder why she didn’t also mention the Facebook live video of 4 adults kidnapping and assaulting a man with physical and mental disabilities just a week earlier. Certainly, that was an act that would land hooks in anyone’s heart.
I also was confused over her spotlight on an act of bullying from one specific man, at the same time failing to recognize and acknowledge that same man had also been bullied and ridiculed the entire night from her peers. From my point of view, bullying of any kind, no matter who the person is, is either okay, or it’s not. You can’t have it both ways.
At this point, I’ll clarify that I’m not advocating for Donald Trump in any way – I’m just simply pointing out my observations. I did some research, and although it’s entirely possible my searches didn’t yield a full picture of information, I did not find anywhere that Ms. Streep contributes to, or is a spokeswoman for, any charities supporting anti-bullying individuals with a disability, or anyone being bullied, for that matter.
My ultimate point is this: Ms. Streep had a HUGE platform on Sunday evening to reach millions of Americans in expressing her support for the fight against bullying, of any kind. Instead, it was a polarizing speech in which bullying was diluted down into one specific moment, perpetuated by an individual Ms. Streep obviously despises. What an opportunity Ms. Streep had, at that moment.
It’s unfortunate the opportunity was wasted. What I might have recommended Ms. Streep to say is this: “A year ago, I was completely disheartened when I saw our President-elect mock a reporter with a disability. Bullying in our schools, and through social media, has become a serious problem in our society. My goal is to bring national attention to this ongoing issue, and give a call to Americans to do something. What happened last week in Chicago is just another example of how social media and our cultural divide has created discourse, bullying and violence. We will not stand for this anymore. Please join me in the fight against bullying, violence and discrimination against all people. It’s time we unite to end this cycle!”
Just think how that message would have changed the news on the airwaves today. Not one person could dispute that message.
Having this platform to use, albeit quite a departure from my usual genre of posts, over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a series on bullying, and I hope you’ll join me as we explore the aspects of this, how it affects our children and ourselves, and how we can unite to find a way to overcome this once, and for all.
