Obama's Big Ears

In 2011, President Obama shared a story about being bullied in school about his name and his ears. They even went on to have a white house conference on bullying and invited young people from all around the country to share their experiences and come up with new ways to deal with this issue.

What happened?  A video was created and guidelines where sent to all schools about the need to protect young people from this menace then back to business as usual in Washington where making fun of someone's name or the size of their ears pales in comparison to the uncivil way adults in power speak about and treat each other every day of the year.

Daytime television makes a living on the absurd way we interact with each other as well as the talent shows that get a rating boost for being brutally honest to an odd kid with a dream. Why do kids bully? Because they see us doing it.

I spend time in schools all around the country and I see bullying but not on the playgrounds or in the hallways. I see it in the teachers lounge where the pettiness of the playground has somehow seeped into the very staff that's been tasked with the job of teaching our children how to treat one another.

They watch what we do. They listen to what we say. They see us go off to work and do whatever we have to get ahead, to make an extra buck, or just to maintain the status quo. When will it stop? When we start to treat each other better and stop sacrificing human interaction for material possession.

This is from a very popular radio host who doesn't think much of our President. I bet school was a breeze compared to this.