Karen Huff Klein--Elderly Bullying Victim

Ok so by now most of us have seen or at least heard of this horrible video.  A bunch of punk 7th graders completely degrading Karen Huff Klein, the bus monitor, on the last day of school, videotaping it, and posting it on youtube.  The video is so hard to get through and in my case was enough to make me cry.  While on their tirade they call her a "fat ass" multiple times, make fun of her sweating, and even going as far as saying all of her family must have committed suicide because they were related to her (in reality she really did loose a son who committed suicide and is a widow) all the while she mostly sits there in silence and takes the abuse, never really raising her voice.  How in the world could anyone act like this?  If I had been one of those kids my mom would have beat me (rightfully so), then took me to that woman's house and made me apologize to her face, as well as be her personal butler/maid/cook you name it for the whole summer.

The video also bring a new thought to life.  What are the parents of these kids like?  Are they mean spirited people who rubbed off the wrong way on their children, or are they nice respectable citizens whose kids are perfect angels at home?  Is there any way to avoid your children ending up like that?  It is so scary to think that you do everything in your power to raise your kids the right way, and then behind your back this is how they are.  IF the parents are respectable good hearted people, then my heart goes out to them.  I can only imagine the embarrassment and disappointment they must be feeling.  I know if it were me I would be absolutely mortified.

There is another subject lying deep in this video too Bullying.  Bullying has been going on since anyone can remember, and it has gotten increasingly worse over the past 10 years thanks to the internet, youtube, and every other kind of social media.  It is now to the point where kids are committing suicide because they can't take it.  The media has done a good job to get the message out there and raise awareness, but I think they focus too much on certain groups than the entire subject.  For a while it was only about gay people being bullied, I heard about it every single day.  I understand that they are a huge target and it is unfortunate, but the bottom line is that bullying is an equal opportunity offender, just as this video proves, and that is what the focus should be.  Bullying affects everyone and it is horrible.  I wasn't very popular in school, but I can't honestly say I was ever bullied, so maybe I don't understand the subject to it's fullest extent, but I don't think you have to go through it to understand how hurtful and dangerous it is.  So maybe there is a silver lining to this video being posted, to show people that it happens to everyone everyday regardless of age, weight, sexuality, gender, etc.

Since this story came out an online fundraiser has started, initially the goal was $5000 to send her on an amazing vacation, but now that number is nearly an astonishing $300,000!  If you would like to donate to her this is the link:  http://www.indiegogo.com/loveforkarenhklein

I hope that I succeed as a parent and I am able to ensure my children never treat anyone like this.  I know kids do things that we can't control sometimes, but I hope this is never one of those things that my kids do.