bullying

Local News Anchor Responds On-Air to Viewer Email Telling Her She's Too Fat for TV

Neetzan Zimmerman · 10/02/12 01:56PM

In a special four-minute comment that aired during this morning's news broadcast on La Crosse, Wisconsin's CBS affiliate WKBT, news anchor/reporter Jennifer Livingston responded to a viewer who wrote in to the station to chide Livingston for not providing "a suitable example for this community's young people, girls in particular," by appearing on television despite being overweight.

The Viral-Video-Microcelebrity-Industrial Complex; or, Making Money Off the Bus Lady Video

Adrian Chen · 07/03/12 09:00AM

On June 19, a YouTube user by the name of "CapitalTrigga" uploaded a video of a gang of middle school students harassing bus monitor Karen Klein. He sent links to local news stations, and school authorities, according to a Reddit thread he posted in soon after. Just a couple days later, thanks to popular posts on Reddit, the video was playing on every major TV network in America. Thousands of dollars in donations poured into an online fundraiser for Karen Klein, the video's beleagured star.

Don't Take That Money, Bullied Bus Lady

Adrian Chen · 06/22/12 05:43PM

When Anderson Cooper asked Karen Klein, the now famous bullied bus monitor, if she ever expected the outpouring of support that has so far raised over half a million dollars for her, she responded: "No, never. I mean I don't feel like I've done anything, you know." The fact that Klein didn't do anything to deserve it is just one of many reasons why she should decline the money raised in her name.

Dan Savage Sorry About 'Pansy-Ass' Comment, But Bashing Gay People with Bible Quotes Is Still Bullshit

Neetzan Zimmerman · 04/30/12 10:15AM

Syndicated columnist and anti-bullying activist Dan Savage delivered the keynote speech at the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle two weeks ago. Never one to mince words (or make up new ones), Savage once again criticized the hypocrisy of justifying anti-gay attitudes with bible passages while ignoring the parts that advocate for slavery or torture or other things considered offensive today.

The Virtues of Being Bullied

Rich Juzwiak · 04/02/12 02:15PM

Lee Hirsch's much-discussed film, Bully, is a great document of this moment in anti-bullying discourse. It reiterates what the compassionate know and the apathetic need to hear: bullying is bad and kids are killing themselves in response.

Boy Sues School Newspaper for Illustrating STD Article with His Face

Maureen O'Connor · 01/26/12 03:01PM

Your daily reminder that teenagers are monsters: An 18-year-old Kenny Clements is suing his high school newspaper for using a photo of his face to illustrate a factually dubious article about STDs. ("Two-thirds of the U.S. population under the age of 22 has an STD"? Need source, Diana Santacruz.)

American Psycho Author Thinks Bullying Victims Should 'Man Up'

Max Read · 12/05/11 10:16AM

What the ongoing debate about bullying has been missing, really, is the voice of Less Than Zero author Bret Easton Ellis. He's reticent to share his opinions publicly, and hates being written about—but the issue cries out for a man of compassion, a man of care, a man of thoughtfulness and grace. A man like Ellis.

Bullied Teen Shares Story of Pain and Perseverance in Online Video

Matt Cherette · 12/04/11 12:17AM

A teenage boy named Jonah Mowry posted the above video to YouTube in August, in which he uses note cards to share the heartbreaking story of what a lifetime of being bullied has done to him. It's one of the saddest things I've ever seen, by one of the bravest boys I've never met.

Stabbing Your Kids Is Okay Now

Hamilton Nolan · 11/21/11 04:44PM

Acupuncture kids! Stem cells! Text bullies! Boundary effect! Pig drugs! Tainted jerky! Elderly pain! Light brains! And the super Greek diet that will save us all! It's your Monday Health Watch, where we watch your health—pointedly!

Special Needs Student Films Teacher Going Psycho on Him

Lauri Apple · 11/16/11 07:09AM

In hindsight, it's regrettable that nobody believed 15-year-old Julio Artuz when he told them he was being bullied and humiliated by one of his teachers. People believe him now, though, because Artuz used his cellphone-video machine to catch his orange-shirted teacher in the act.

Artuz, who attends Bankbridge Regional School in New Jersey, told NBC that his enraged teacher's comments made him "feel like I'm trash." So he used the technology that God gave him and collected himself some damning evidence. After watching his video, we get the feeling that his teacher—who has been placed on administrative leave pending action by the local education board—won't be in a position to swear and threat to kick his ass anymore: