And here goes another episode of bullying. And this time it's a woman bus monitor.Karen Huff Klein. I could not watch more than 5 seconds of this horrible act, caught on video. The video now has gone viral and the community has shown great support for the woman, who is not only the resident of Greece, NY but also is a widow. As if being a widow is easy, that poor woman was taunted because of that. What's wrong with our children? When did they become so insensitive and cruel and psychopaths? Day after day, weeks after week, we read a news about some child committing suicide because of relentless bullying. And it need not be a gay child; he/she could be someone the others think to be different or weak and take great pleasure bullying. When did the children become so horrible?

Childhood, as I remember was the best time of my life. Everyone in my family went to a semi-public school and we had students from all economic and class backgrounds. But never in my life I remember the day when someone was looked down upon because she lacked a certain quality. Being a high-school student in India is all about getting fantastic grades and excelling in extracurricular activities. Even the divisions were set in a way to reflect the quality of students (like A would be all over 3.5 GPA and so on and so forth). This was actually much more deliberate division of students, according to their academic achievements. But as I remember the students from less academic achievement class, were good at so many other things (sports, paintings, music, dance) that we the "A" students never felt any different or at times may be lacking certain life qualities others had. I was into sports throughout school days and I made some great friends while playing with the team and of course they were not A students. In fact, I remember I once said something jokingly about someone's academic ability and I was reprimanded very strongly by the teacher. I am glad she did that. Never at my home, such "I am better than you because I am A students" behavior was encouraged. In fact, my parents were extremely cautious about not letting me and my sister fly high; no matter what.

Isn't this how it's supposed to be? Everyone is different but difference is what makes life so beautiful and enjoyable. Aren't we supposed to celebrate the differences? What's wrong with kids these days? I am not child educator or psychologist, but if children are on their way to be bullies; something is very wrong with the adults who are supposed to inculcate values. We all like to make fun of others and pull leg or react sarcastically but making someone so miserable that they choose a path of death or have a psychological breakdown; is not "making fun" it's "criminal". I know there are laws against such behavior but then where is the strict implementation? Something, somewhere is missing the mark. Parents, teachers; I don't know whom to blame. But this is a very serious problem.

Being a child should be the best part of life not the worse. And being a bully should be the worst part of once's life; not the best.