It still seems like the nation is clearly divided nearly three months after election day. But one thing we should all be on the same page about is that KOTUS, or Kids of the United States (my new –OTUS for the president’s children), should not take the heat that they do.
On President Trump’s Inauguration Day, Katie Rich, a writer for “Saturday Night Live,” tweeted that young Barron Trump would be the first homeschool shooter. After a flood of criticism, Rich deleted the tweet and was suspended indefinitely.
Surprisingly enough, President Trump, who has been quick to criticize the comedy show in the past, did not tweet anything about the incident. However, Chelsea Clinton came to Barron’s defense via Facebook, insisting that the ten-year-old be left alone. She stated that the boy deserves the same chance every child does – which is to be a kid.
According to the New York Times, a typical reply to Clinton’s post included comments about the lack of respect given to the Obama children, and how people will give respect to Barron regardless of his father’s actions. The responses about the young Obama girls are correct. Both Malia and Sasha Obama have received plenty of backlash from the media.
In 2016, a Fox News article released information about how Malia would be attending Harvard University in 2017. A range of racial slurs were left in the comments section of the article before the Associated Press disabled the section entirely. One, as reported by DiversityInc, reads, “Another academically challenged affirmative-action parasite steals a place from a qualified White or Asian student.” Another commentator even went so far as stating they hoped Malia got cancer or AIDS.
While some may think Malia, now a young adult, can take such reprisal, it does not excuse the internet trolls from saying such things. And let’s not forget that Malia can heavily relate to Barron, as she was called “a typical street whore” along with “ghetto trash,” by the public for wearing a shirt with a peace sign on it at only 11 years old. I do not understand why people feel the need to take out their anger about politics on politicians’ children, but I do understand that not a single kid should be reduced to headlines. They did not choose to be in the public eye.
A part of me feels that cyber bullying will never subside, simply because technology keeps evolving, continuing to expose us to many different ways to post instantaneous, hateful comments. And while I do believe there is a difference between trolling online and bullying, I do not see that one should be any more accepted than the other in this age of electronics, especially when it comes to the children of our nation’s leaders.
If these are kids just trying to be kids, maybe more of those the same age should come to their defense. I know there are every-day, regular tweens out there with iPhones and iPads with Twitters and Instagrams that could make quite an impact by standing up for Barron. It would be refreshing to see a child take a stand for another over social media. Not to mention, it would be pretty cool.
Maybe there should even be a KOTUS Twitter account so the Kids of the United States, like Barron, can stand up for themselves. Standing up for one’s self even seems like the point of his dad’s Twitter account sometimes. Seriously.
But it is not up to an adolescent to undo the hatred adults have posted. It’s really the adults’ jobs to act mature and set the example, right? So I’m confused why anger at the government could lead so many to take it out on the children who are just along for the ride?
I openly admit that I’m not the biggest Trump fan, but I will never apply my aversion to his ten-year-old son. I hope others will do the same for Barron’s sake. Adults be adults and let kids be kids, even if they are KOTUS.
