Kids who bully adults

The viral video of 68-year-old bus monitor Karen Klein being bullied by four teens shows that bullies don’t always prey on smaller, weaker kids. The 10 minute mobile phone video shows Mrs Klein trying her best to ignore the stream of profanity, insults and outright threats.

One student mocked her, saying: "You don't have a family because they all killed themselves because they don't want to be near you."

Mrs Klein's oldest son killed himself ten years ago.

Eventually, she appears to break down in tears.

The students also call her names such as "troll", dumb-ass" and "fat-ass".

The verbal bullying incident has affected many people, including inspiring a website dedicated to collecting cash for Ms. Klein, in order to cover her costs so she can “go on holiday”. In just a few days, the site has collected over $630 000.

But the horror over the incident comes from the way the kids mock the woman, systematically reducing her to tears. It seems to have resonated with people, perhaps victims of bullying themselves, or even just full of empathy for the bullied gran.

Reports of bullying commonly conjure up images of a big kid kicking sand in the face of a smaller kid, but this video clip shows that sometimes, whether as groups or individuals, teens may bully adults.

Even parents may become afraid of their children as a result of verbal or physical abuse, and, as a result withdraw from attempting to instil boundaries or discipline.

The teens have since apologised, but their apologies call into question their initial actions- Was it peer pressure that made them bully the woman, a lack of discipline in the home, or simply a case of immature kids who didn’t realise that their actions would have consequences? Or, are they just horrible brats whose parents have raised them badly?

What do you think makes kids bully adults?