Hey, People...Leave Them Kids Alone!

Okay, I'm going to start this blog off by posting a link to a site that has GREATLY helped me the last day or so.

The site is called SOCIAL FIXER, and it allows people to block certain posts on social media that they do NOT want to see.  INCLUDING POLITICAL POSTS.

You know, I'm not even American, and I am already sick of American politics.  Prior to my finding this beautiful site that allows me to filter my newsfeed to eliminate most political posts (sadly, it does not filter out memes), it was getting to the point where I had to wade through 99% of Trump, Clinton, Trudeau, and Wynne postings just to get to the good stuff.

It's not as though I don't care about politics.  I actually have some strong opinions about them.  I just don't share them on my own Facebook timeline because I don't really want to advertise them for fear of getting attacked or bullied by those who don't agree with them.

I don't have an issue with disagreements.  They happen all the time.  I do have an issue with people attacking other people with insults, foul language, and veiled threats.  To me, that's not showing that you're passionate about politics.  Instead, you're passionate about ruining someone else's day or making people feel bad for not agreeing with you.  As Daffy Duck would say...that's despicable.  And those attitudes are one reason why I sought out the political blocker on my own Facebook page.  I don't have any interest in seeing people lose it against each other because of a difference of opinion, or people labeling an entire group of people with foul insults because they are protesting the current President of the United States, or instigators who purposely poke the bear with a stick just to start a fight online.

Perhaps some of the most disgusting behaviour that I have seen over the last couple of days involves one little boy...and it's this boy that has sparked today's PCA Life Lesson. 

As if I really need a reason to post a life lesson about how wrong it is to bully a child - especially when you're an adult that is doing it.  And yet, that's exactly what I saw, and that's the very reason why I turned off all politics from my Facebook page.

(DISCLAIMER:  I'm happy to report that none of my contacts on my FB page were responsible for it, aside from posting public links to stories where some people in the general public DID say these things.)

As I was saying, bullying a child is not okay under any circumstances.  And to prove my point, I present to you this photo.

The photo is of now President Donald Trump and his youngest son, Barron.  I believe Barron is around the 10-11 year old mark.  I'm not quite sure.  He's a handsome kid though.  I can see why the Trump family would be proud of him. 

I mean, granted, I still don't believe that America made the right choice in electing Donald Trump president, and I could spend an hour telling people exactly why I don't trust him...but I can do that without bringing his wife or five children into the argument.  They are not responsible for the things that Donald Trump says or tweets, so they should be kept off the table.

Which is why I think it's deplorable that people are starting to use their "keyboard courage" to attack Barron Trump for things that are absolutely ridiculous.

Now, when I say "attack", I tend not to think of the posts on Instagram that "Modern Family" star Julie Bowen posted during the inauguration.  In those posts, she capped pictures of Barron looking disinterested and captioning them with comments about him wishing he had his Gameboy with him.  To me, I can see the humour behind it (even though several others did not), mainly because I don't believe she was trying to be malicious about it...and because if I were Barron Trump and I was at the inauguration, I'd probably want my Nintendo DS too!  I mean, let's face it.  At 10, I had the worst attention span when it came to important events where I had to sit down a lot and listen to adults speak for several hours.  I nearly fell asleep at my sister's wedding when I was eight!  So yeah, I'm going to give Julie Bowen a pass on this one, though I think she'll probably think twice before posting anything about the Trumps on Instagram again.

Now, the comments that Saturday Night Live writer Kate Rich made on the other hand...yeah, I'm not even going to post what she wrote because it is so obnoxious and cruel.  And in EXTREMELY poor taste!  Let's just say that she found a way to incorporate the words "Barron Trump" and "school shooting" into one very bitter tweet.  And, yes, I see the irony in complaining about Kate Rich's tweet when Barron's father is the king of poorly written tweets himself (Seriously, if somebody can find a way to disable his Twitter privileges, that would be the first step in lessening the divide between Americans).  But the point is that an adult like Kate Rich making comments like that towards a ten year old boy is absolutely disgusting, and shame on her for even suggesting such a thing. 

Not long after posting that tweet, Rich was barraged by negative comments from people who felt the same way that I did, and she deleted it three hours later.  But by that time, the damage was already done.  I hope that tweet was worth it.

And don't even get me started on the claims that Rosie O'Donnell made about Barron Trump supposedly having autism.  Firstly, what difference does it make if he does?  Absolutely none whatsoever.  Secondly, who made Rosie O'Donnell a medical expert on diagnosing autism?  She is not a doctor.  And thirdly, we all know that O'Donnell and Trump have hated each other since the days when Rosie was a panelist on "The View".  I'm thinking that her comments were less about Barron's well being and more about her trying to attack Trump once more.  I don't think either side in the O'Donnell/Trump war behaved like adults during the whole brouhaha, but O'Donnell really should have known better than to go after his children the way that she has.  Queen of Nice, no more.

And honestly...if you're an adult making fun of a child - whether they're in the public eye or the kid down the street...it's absolutely shameful.  And I say this because I know what it's like to be a child and be made fun of by adults for things that are so superficial.  It hurts, it's not a good feeling, and it makes it difficult for that child to trust any adult.

And I would have that opinion no matter what.  Whether it is Barron Trump, Sasha and Malia Obama, Chelsea Clinton, Jenna and Barbara Bush or anybody...no adult has the right to bully any child.

NOBODY.