Something's been bugging me.

A week or two ago, my local NBC news station aired a video of a woman picking her nose (and ingesting) in the background of Dorthy Tucker's CBS newscast (I chose not to link to it, but you can certainly google it if you so choose).

I remember thinking, "Poor girl, I'd just die if that happened to me."

So. What if she did?

What if that poor girl was so entirely embarassed about the whole nose picking situation that she decided she simply could no longer live . . . and chose to end her life.

What if?

Would we be seeking out every single news media anchor, radio spokesperson, blogger, twitterer, youtube uploader to prosecute them for causing her death?

This is bullying.

No, the girl involved did not choose to end her life (that I know of). But was she embarassed? (Who would be?) Did she find it hard to face people at work, at home? (More than likely.) Did this cause her to fall into a deep depression, unable to live her life dreams? (It's possible.)

My hope is that she has a network of some really good, close friends who are helping her to realize that she is so much more than a girl who picked her nose on t.v.

It's easy to understand how not just my news station, but numerous news stations, radio stations, other media outlets (even the Huffington post), etc. could make the grave mistake of calling this news.

Let's get real. We live in a culture of bullying.

Tabloid magazines rampant with celebrity gossip. Television shows made specifically for celebrity gossip. Talk show hosts instigating outrage over nontruths. Papparazi stalking. "Reality Television" where judges taunt and scream at their contestants and grown adult women are constantly cat fighting.

Is it reality?

It's bullying.

And it's teaching our kids that this kind of bullying masked as entertainment is okay – okay to emulate.

That's why a couple of college kids could fathom that posting a video of their roomate's sexual escapades would be FUNNY.

The problem with the National Crime Prevention Council's anti-cyber bullying campaign's slogan, "If you wouldn't say it in person, why say it online?"is  that  

people are saying it in person.

Each time we read a celebrity gossip magazine, watch a celebrity gossip talk show, choose to watch those girls on that one show about housewives who are supposedly REAL . . .

Each time we laugh as one person publically humiliates another person, we, too are bullies.

We are saying, "okay, I vote for that. That's okay by me."

Well. It's not okay by me.

I resent my local news station for forcing me to be a part of their bullying. I expect so much more from any news station or reporter. It truly is a sad day when the people we trust to deliver real news choose to participate in such tomfoolery. Shame on you.

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