Are Bullies the New Bed Bugs for 2011?

   The year 2010 was all about bed bugs... at least in New York City. Now, I'm hearing about bullies and bullying on the news pretty much every other day. I'll make a prediction right here and right now:

BULLIES are going to be the BED BUGS of 2011

   The news media will talk about bullies, bullying, and the bullied in 2011 like they talked about bed bugs in 2010. The face of bullies will be paraded on television, the papers, and websites. Bullies will be on the cover of Time magazine and I will shed a tear for the bullied.

   I don't like bullies but I think I know where bullies come from - low self-esteem, low self-worth, ignorance, trouble at home, and a "get them before they get me" mentality. In light of all that, I think bullies serve an important social function. It's not a pretty social function to talk about but bullies can be motivators and serve as the impetus for change for those that they bully. The recent Rutgers suicide has been attributed to bullying but I don't agree. The roommate who filmed Tyler Clementi having relations wasn't a bully - he was idiotic, misguided, and a voyeur but a bully? If people are calling him a bully then the term is being bandied about very loosely. So, there it is, my first prediction for the coming year - the rise of the Bully.