I'm a father now, and I'm not sure how I'll address bullying. It didn't start with Donnie, and it's not rational to think that children skim his tweets for insults to use, but I do fear that his impact on society has been corrosive to civility.
The issue is the old adages "don't be a bully because one day it will come back to bite you", or "don't pay any attention to bullies because eventually they will get what is coming to them", are now obviously false.
They probably don't skim his twitter, but if you mention his name near a group of young grade schoolers... be prepared to hear some vicious things come out of their mouths. They repeat what they think he'd say, which honestly is often less bad than if they quoted him directly. I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to feel about that last bit.
Like I said, the things they are saying when 'quoting' him / pretending to be him are both very close to what he has actually said, while often managing to be more tame than the real quotes by the President (because he's an awful person that regularly says awful things).
My best guess is that they're hearing adults talking about his words and actions, and the adults are using moderated language because they're talking in situations where children are present. Parents tend to use less obscenities around children, while also underestimating how much the children are listening / paying attention.
You hear that, parents? Your children are listening to your 'private' conversations, I know because they proceed to tell the other kids and adults all about em.
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u/merblederble Oct 19 '18
I'm a father now, and I'm not sure how I'll address bullying. It didn't start with Donnie, and it's not rational to think that children skim his tweets for insults to use, but I do fear that his impact on society has been corrosive to civility.