What is the Antidote to Bullying?

Recently, I heard a neighbor express her pain about her two adopted black daughters being bullied at their high school. It brought back memories of when one of my daughters was also being mistreated in a high school class. The students threw large, wet, spit-wads at my daughter which left inky splotches on her clothes and caught in her long hair. One time they even unfolded a paper clip and used the sharp end to tear the back of her blouse. 

As a parent, as a mother, it hurts deeply when someone hurts your child. You know the joy this child has brought to your life. You know how special she is, and you sense her amazing potential. You have seen her struggles, and her triumphs. How can you watch as people try to pressure her into accepting that she is worthless? 

Is my daughter black? No, but she is different, and that is all it takes to be bullied. You have to be identifiable. You can have a different color of skin, be

Are we a becoming a nation of bullies?

I've been thinking about bullying since last week when a friend warned me about a new Facebook "hack" where a hurtful comment, supposedly from you and invisible to you, is inserted into your Facebook responses. I've been thinking about all the hate and just pure meanness that we see all around us, and I have been wondering why this is happening. 

Are people seeing this cruel behavior modeled as "normal" in their entertainment? Yes, that is probably a factor, but you will have to evaluate the extent because I quit watching TV shows and current movies (except for the Hallmark type) years ago. When I saw darkness, hopelessness, violence, rudeness, crudeness, dishonesty, mocking the good, and selfishly using people portrayed as "normal", I flicked to the next channel, until finally, I just turned my TV off. The same with movies. When even the short advertising trailers made me cringe inside, I knew it would hurt me to watch it and make it a permanent part of my "memory banks", so I quit watching most new movies. 

Perhaps, I am more shocked by the bullying today because my "frog" stayed out of the "pot" by avoiding the hidden agendas of those in Hollywood.

When is Humor Funny?

I love humor. A lot of patience sprinkled with humor makes life fun! 

A friend sent me a link to a couple of songs from the Broadway smash hit, the musical Book of Mormon. I had to admit that the tunes were catchy and well sung. I also had to agree with her statement, "I would say that though the jabs were made so funny one had to laugh, it was also insulting if you were a Mormon."

My question is whether it is ever ok to "put down", "jab", or insult other people? Should we embrace entertainment derived from hurting others? Think of all the "Dumb Blond", "Pollock", "Fat", "Jewish", etc, etc. jokes. Are they really funny?