Political Ads Cause Bullying!

Ok, slightly sensational, but you're reading.

And, there is truth to this statement. Bullying has become a national problem. It was shoved front and center a few weeks ago when a young man from Rutgers University jumped from the GW Bridge because his roommate decided to post live video feed of a sexual encounter. It is an issue though that schools have been dealing with for years. There will always be someone who, for whatever reason, believes that it is okay to ridicule someone else. When I was growing up, we were told that standing up to bullies would help improve our self-esteem. Usually, the bully backed down. Today, the bullying is more complex. The bully encourages other to gang up on one person. The bullies use the internet and texting to spread the word more quickly. Because of the supposed anonymity of the computer or because they are just more ruthless, the bullies are more and more vicious.

Which brings me to the political ads. Never can I remember the number of "attack ads" that I have seen lately. Thanks to the Supreme Court allowing corporations to contribute what they want, we don't even know who is sponsoring most of the ads. Sounds like anonymity to me. And these ads are taking half-truths or outright lies and tooting them like they were gospel truths. That is what many bullies do. So the people behind these ads are bullies.

Which helps me make my case that political ads are creating bullies. Imagine how much tv kids are watching these days. Imagine the ads that they see. The thought process becomes what is okay for the people running, or ruining, our country must be okay for me. If they can say mean nasty things about each other, then that is what I will do. Beyond this, more teens have less parental supervision to correct them when they decide to get vicious. What they have are attack ads.

So this is what I propose. The political ads should become more about what a candidate is going to do and less about how bad someone else apparently is. People should be required to state that they are the ones bashing someone else in the ads. And children should be taught that the internet is not anonymous and words hurt worse than sticks and stones. Then I wouldn't have to write sensational titles.