What is WRONG with people, Chapter Kabillion

There is apparently no depth so low that there aren't people willing to sink to it. The latest depravity I came across is a TikTok thing called the New Teacher Challenge. 

The "challenge" is to show your kid a picture of their supposed new teacher for the coming school year, film their reaction, and then post it. The grins come in when the exemplary parents use a picture of someone who is disabled and/or mentally ill, and 

whose facial features aren't "normal" and are, thus, bound to be scary and/or loathsome to the little ones - especially when the exemplary parent is more or less encouraging the scary and/or loathsome reaction.

Ho, ho, ho!

First off, why would you want to video your kid in a moment when they are either frightened or weirded out or demonstrating a loathsome and scary degree of looksism? When kids point and gape at the odd odd-looking person in the Walmart parking lot, isn't it the parent's job to point out that not everyone looks the same, and that having looks that are unusual, different, doesn't make someone less than human. This is where you point out that pointing and gaping might make that someone feel bad. This is where you head any tendency to make fun off at the pass.

Second off, what sort of person combs through the Internet grabbing pictures of someone for the sole purpose of making fun of them?

I looked through a couple of the New Teacher Challenge entries, and not every one is evidence of a soulless moral lacking (other than that they shouldn't be doing this to their kids to begin with). One parent showed her kid a picture of a scary clown, another a pic of Joe Exotic, the Tiger King. One mommy queued up a snap of a young, very attractive blonde woman who looked like a Hooters' waitress and introduced her to her pre-adolescent son who - predictably - liked what he saw. Way to enforce hubba-hubba sexism at an early age, but at least the mom wasn't making fun of anyone. 

But most of the pictures I saw were of people suffering from some sort of physical deformity.

It reminds me of those people who do something mean to their kids - take away their Halloween candy, give them a really awful Christmas present - take a video of the horrified reaction and post away. It's just so WFT-y.

It reminds me of the "People of Walmart", which does have some genuinely amusing (albeit generally plenty snobby) pictures of shoppers at the store we love to hate. Sometimes it's a funny tee-shirt. Or there's funny commentary on what's in someone's cart. (One I saw had a cart completely overloaded with boxes of Kraft Mac 'n Cheese, accompanied by some snarky comment.) And it's obvious that some folks are just shameless exhibitionists or outright pervs. 

But it stops being funny when it's someone with a physical challenge or mental illness. Seriously, the woman with her pants around her ankles who appears to be defecating in the cheese section. Look at her face. This is not someone who appears to be in full command of anything. And plenty of the POW seem to fall into this category. 

Unfortunately, with the advent of the smartphone, everyone's a Richard Avedon or an Annie Liebovitz. See it, snap it, and - don't even hesitate for a nano-second - post it.  Everyone's a Frank Capra, a Martin Scorsese. See it, vid it, and - don't even hesitate for a nano-second - post it.

Anyway, via Twitter, I came across a piece by Melissa Blake on the charming New Teacher Challenge. Melissa is a writer and disability activist, who has been made fun of for her looks plenty of times on social media - including on TikTok. Here's part of what she has to say about the grownups getting into the New Teacher Challenge act:

Adults who actually think this is okay, and worse...even funny, should know better. There’s absolutely no excuse. They should be the ones teaching their children how harmful and hurtful these pranks are, not laughing in the background as their child recoils at the sight of a disabled person. We live in a society where people who look “different” are seen as ugly and grotesque; those messages start being taught at a young age. Think about how many Disney villains have some sort of deformity. (Source: Melissa Blake on Refinery 29)

And here's what she has to say about her own feelings on the matter:

I’m not laughing, though, because none of this is funny. I’m utterly disgusted...

I want to be clear: I am violated. Every single time. Each photo, taunt, and cruel word is a clear violation of my dignity and my worth as a human being. And every time these platforms fail to take action, they’re sending the message that this bullying is okay. So many disabled people have become inured to our appearance being mocked. That’s not something we should ever have to get used to.

Some activists have appealed to TikTok to do something about it, but the response is always the same: none of this nastiness and bullying actually violates their platform rules. (Same goes for the other social media platforms, by the way. Not surprise here. If no one seems to be able to get FB or Twitter to take fomenting a civil war all that seriously, how's anyone going to get them to give a damn about some whose looks are being ridiculed?)

Sure, we can prevail upon the parents to smarten up, morality wise, and stop participating in the New Teacher Challenge. We can assure those whose pictures are used in this not particularly funny prank that most people aren't mean and nasty, most people would have their back, etc. (It increasingly looks, however, that this isn't necessarily true.) Or we can keep lobbying to have the vaunted platform rules amended. 

But that's a slippery free speech slope. If you've put an image of yourself out there (or even if someone else has put it out there unbeknownst to you) in the public domain, and it's not copyright, and some ahole wants to take it and make a cruel comment about it, what do you really want to do about it?

No easy answer here, but I think option one - prevailing upon the better angels - is the best way to go. This probably wouldn't work with those who have no better angels, who are fundamentally cruel, or so pathetically insecure that they have to build themselves up by tearing others down. But it might work with those who are merely thoughtless, way too casual when it comes to the feelings of a stranger. 

Time and again, I keep asking myself: what is WRONG with people? Is it possible that there are actually folks out there who've never heard of the Golden Rule? Or is getting a couple of likes or clicks or whatevers on social media the uber value of our age?