One Trump Pledges Online Kindness; The Other Tweets Mean Things
You’re not alone if you had so much trouble reconciling the words of the first couple Monday that you’re suffering whiplash. As First Lady Melania Trump called for greater kindness online during opening remarks at a government summit on cyberbullying, President Donald Trump pilloried his critics and political enemies on Twitter. The juxtaposition underscores the challenge ahead as Mrs. Trump continues to roll out her signature projects to improve childhood wellbeing.
Cyberbullying is a key component of the first lady’s “Be Best” public awareness campaign. Omnipresent in children’s lives, social media can also be “destructive and harmful when used incorrectly,” Mrs. Trump said in prepared remarks Monday at the Federal Partners on Bullying Prevention summit.
“Let’s face it: Most children are more aware of the benefits and pitfalls of social media than some adults, but we still need to do all we can to provide them with information and tools for successful and safe online habits,” she said.
After making her introductory remarks, Mrs. Trump remained in the audience to listen to a panel discussion called “Perspectives from Social Media Industry: Existing Efforts to Support Youth,” which was largely geared toward empowering adults to monitor children on social media and model best behaviors.
That approach is consistent with the advice of national bullying experts, who say adults need to be strong role models for youths.
“That includes everyone, including our national leaders,” Nicholas Carlisle, the director of NoBully.org, told Patch earlier this year as part of our yearlong look at bullying and cyberbullying. “As we look at the level of political discourse, which has become degraded in the United States, we see correlations between that and increased levels of bullying in schools.”
Dr. Frederick Rivara, one of the authors of a 2016 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report that called on health officials to treat bullying as a major public health issue, agrees.
RELATED
“When the elected officials are guilty of harassment and bullying … it’s important for parents to point out that’s not right,” Rivara said.
“This is not just a part of growing up,” he said. “This is behavior that is harmful. We as responsible adults need to try to educate our kids into not doing it.”
Here are five things to know about the “Be Best” initiative and the first lady’s remarks at the Federal Partners on Bullying Prevention summit:
1. The first lady did not respond to questions from reporters about the incongruity of her message with the president’s brusque Monday morning tweets insulting special Robert Mueller and former CIA director John Brennan. The president used words like “disgraced” and “discredited” to describe Mueller, who is leading the investigation into Russian election meddling, and called Brennan, whose security clearance was revoked in a peculiar display of presidential pique, the “worst CIA director in our country’s history.”
“The First Lady’s presence at events such as today’s cyberbullying summit elevates an issue that is important to children and families across this country,” Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communications director, said in a statement. “She is aware of the criticism but it will not deter her from doing what she feels is right. The President is proud of her commitment to children and encourages her in all that she does.”
2. President Trump tried to talk his wife out of cyberbullying as a signature cause, arguing the first lady would be opening herself to criticism over his rhetoric on Twitter, The New York Times reported. Mrs. Trump rejected her husband’s advice, but by the time the first lady rolled out her initiative, it was bundled under the “Be Best” label that includes broader issues of childhood wellbeing, including drug addiction and opioid use
Mrs. Trump’s appearance at the Federal Partners on Bullying Prevention summit comes three days after The New York Times reported the president pressured her to choose a signature cause other than cyberbullies to avoid opening herself to jeers and questions about his often bellicose tweets. She rejected his advice.
In March at a roundtable meeting with Amazon, Facebook, Google, Twitter and other social media companies, she acknowledged the disconnect between her anti-cyberbullying campaign and her husband’s behavior on Twitter.
“I am well aware that people are skeptical of me discussing this topic,” the first lady said at the time. “I have been criticized for my commitment to tackling this issue, and I know that will continue. But it will not stop me from doing what I know is right.”
3. Mrs. Trump’s rollout of the “Be Best” initiative was roiled in controversy from the moment she announced it. The White House downplayed accusations that she plagiarized portions of it from an Obama-era booklet, “Chatting With Kids About Being Online.”
Grisham said at the time the Federal Trade Commission asked that its booklet be distributed at the Rose Garden launch event, but it did the initiative did not come from the booklet. The booklet includes an introduction from Mrs. Trump, but other than that, closely mirrors the booklet published by the FTC in 2014, when Barack Obama was president.
Click Here: geelong cats guernsey 2019
4. Mrs. Trump is taking some of her cues from kids. She met recently with teenagers who are involved in Microsoft’s Council for Digital Good, which is focused on the state of online civility today and hopes for improvement in the future.
“In addition to sharing their 15 beliefs for how to be healthy and safe online, they each showed me individual projects representing their thoughts and ideas on what responsible behavior means to them,” Mrs. Trump said in her prepared remarks. “I was impressed by their deep understanding of how important it is to be safe, and was inspired by their sincere commitment to reducing peer-to-peer bullying through kindness and open communication.
“I encourage technology and social media companies, schools and community groups, to establish more opportunities for children such as Microsoft’s Council for Digital Good,” the first lady said. “By listening to children’s ideas and concerns, I believe adults will be better able to help them navigate this often-difficult topic.”
5. New York Times bestselling author Kate Andersen Brower tweeted that what stood out for her in the first lady’s remarks was her statement that social media can be destructive and harmful if used incorrectly. “Wonder what @realDonaldTrump thinks of that statement,” Brower wrote.
Among those commenting was John Owen, who wrote: “I suppose it never occurred to anyone that her husband’s behavior is EXACTLY why she speaks out on this.”
YOUR TURN
Throughout 2018, Patch is looking at society’s roles and responsibilities in bullying and a child’s unthinkable decision to end their own life in hopes we might offer solutions that save lives.
Do you have a story to tell? Are you concerned about how your local schools handle bullies and their victims?
Email us at [email protected] and share your views in the comments.
Image: First lady Melania Trump participates in a Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention summit at the Health Resources and Service Administration Aug. 20, 2018, in Rockville, Maryland. The first lady attended the federal anti-cyber-bullying summit just days after President Donald Trump referred to former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman as a “dog” on Twitter. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)