Bullying is becoming an accepted part of society

Teenagers are dying because other teens are bullying them. At the risk of sounding like an old person that is set in her old person ways, I know why teens are bullying each other. It's more of an accepted thing in todays' society that's why.

Turn on any reality TV show, and see adult women pulling each other's hair out. Flip through any fashion magazine and you will see girls, women, pre-teens and young girls wearing next to nothing. Look at any model with her thin arms, and too large for her body, obviously fake breasts.

We accept bullying as a part of society today; that's why teens think it is okay to bully each other. Teenagers, preteens, younger children, and young adults say things to each other that this old person could not have said years ago. I would have been yelled at by my mother, given a hard time by my friends, or had it thrown right back by my older, nastier sister.

Bullying is becoming more of an accepted part of today's world. You may blame the kids that bully, but you might just want to look at the media these kids are tormented with everyday. Reality TV shows announce fighting, back stabbing, yelling and mistreating other human beings as a way of life. "Rock of Love," was one of the first reality TV shows that showcased young women fighting over a rock star, by actually fighting over Brett Michaels. They swore, spit, pulled each other's hair, and made out with each other as well as Brett Michael's.

If you have cable TV in your house, and a TV in nearly every room, chances are your kids are watching programs including people mistreating each other, having sex, and acting like Divas from the time they can see and figure out what is going on.

Teenagers have been viewing young adults, older adults and teens mistreating, bullying, talking smack to each other probably for their entire young lives. MTV showcases programs where young adults live together in a house since 1992.Teens' cartoons, kids' shows, entire networks devoted to your children are basically garbage filling your young child's mind. My kids can quote Spongebob cartoons from memory. It's not something I am proud of, but my college sophomore and my middle school child both watch too much TV. Watch a few moments of  "Almost Naked Animals, " and you will see what I mean with cartoon characters mistreating one another.
Sample a few minutes of any Housewife of series, and you will see bullying, backstabbing and lying  from the housewives and  their relatives.

Peruse your teenager's Facebook account, and you will discover how he  talks smack with his friends. Discover his girlfriend's suggestive sexual promises to him. Grab one of your kid's cellphones only to find out how many naked sexts he has received from friends. Find out how your teens make fun of other kids online, on their cellphones, on their blogs, etc. Unless you are doing the same thing your teens are doing, then you will not enjoy discovering your child Skyping his girlfriend in his bedroom while they have their clothes off.

What I'm saying, by going slightly off course, is kids are used to seeing shocking things. This means they are not shocked by saying mean, horrible, fierce, rude, idiotic things to each other. But kids do have feelings as any adult does. When adults are given a hard time at work by a co-worker, it hurts, and for teens who have hormones raging and whose brains are not fully developed it hurts even more.

Teens, and young adults may think it is okay to bully someone else, because they can do so without seeing or being seen by the recipient's of their bullying. We live in a world where instant gratification is the norm ,and we can do so by making comments on numerous websites, social networks, and on each other's blogs. We can say rude, nasty, horrid things to each other, and about other people without having any real consequences. But when a young person reads bullying comments and hears them everyday at school, after awhile it settles in and that person thinks something is wrong with them. Copyright 2011, written by Kate Johns who has been freelance writing professionally since 2004.