Lilies, roses, and bullies in uniforms

Aside from October, the things that came and went include my birthday, which marked my first quarter of a century of living.

The highlights of this year's birthday were the presents; books, clothes, and a Star Wars DVD box set. Plus of course a bouquet of lilies and roses from O Dear One. But nothing could top the impromptu happy birthday song that Dinda and Ebonk made up during the karaoke night. With backing vocals of Runi, Bangun, and Nugi. Super.

Anyway. I guess this is still related to TV crew; because there's always something to talk about when it comes to their kind.

Recently, the media was buzzed by a story of this high school kid who was bullied by his upper classmates, sending the poor kid to the hospital with a black eye and internal bleeding.

School bullying, of course, is a major issue anywhere in the world.

So that night, a bunch of cameramen and maybe some other journalists waited near the school to get a shot of maybe someone punching some guy, playing God in the little world we called high school.

Story is, there were several alumni (alumna? alumnus? I never get this one right) hanging out in the park, and they told the cameramen to get the hell out of their area. That no cameras were allowed.

The story also said that physical contacts were made before the guys ran away and left the cameramen dumbfounded.

At that moment, I thought the brawl was a self defense to protect their school. Well, however, they didn't need to go all physical. I thought, dasar sekolah borju. The school is famous for having crazy rich kids who think they can solve anything in this world by money and power.

However, a few days later, I heard the other side of the story. Bangun's sister's boyfriend was there that night. And he said that those cameramen, who call themselves journalists, kept provoking the guys to start calling the freshmen and bully them.

All for a good TV footage.

All for those "exclusive" tag printed out near their station logo every time it airs. Which would mean 1024749 times a day. Over and over again.

I try not to take sides, but somehow, it is much more believable to imagine the latter scene. Of course, I understand those TV crew were just trying to do their job. No good footage means an earful from their producers.

But is it really necessary to keep provoking, and when they've sparked some anger, they told their online-journalist friend to publish the one-sided story?

Is it really necessary to use their agenda setting power to stir the public's minds into thinking, "wow these kids really are bullies"?

I ain't no saint, but come on people, there are rules. There are ethics. Try to respect them. And again, use your brain, not your muscle. Your head, not your fist.