CNN Wants You To Be Afraid Of The Scary Guy
CNN's manufactured controversy du jour: "The Scary Guy" -- and that's apparently his real name -- travels around the world, giving anti-bullying seminars to school kids. He's shocking, confrontational, covered in tattoos. He makes weird noises. Kids love him. Many school administrators do, too.
But! Somewhere in Minnesota, there's one school principal who thinks The Scary Guy is ineffective because he's only in the children's lives for a single day. Really confronting bullying, says this principal, involves greeting children as they arrive at school each morning with a high-spirited fist-bump. Or so CNN says he says. In any case, this principal thinks The Scary Guy is too mercenary, and CNN correspondent Randi Kaye thinks he's too weird; a judgment she communicates with careful deployments of the word "but," and phrases such as "and some think ... "
At CNN.com there's a little more scary info on The Scary Guy. He's apparently failed to file taxes for a few years, which, when you consider that he's really just an unlettered tattoo artist with a weird freelance gig, doesn't seem so strange. But none of that made it onto The Scary Guy's TV segment. Which means Randi Kaye's Scary Guy date probably doesn't quite count as journalism, though it's certainly a fine attempt to frighten school administrators away from hiring one of the very few professionals whose job it is to fight bullying full-time. Good work!
Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...
I'm not sure about "scary guy", but your spell check editor needs to review the difference between "principal" and "principle".
"Principal" is the person involved with education.
Posted by: Continuum | Apr 1, 2012 9:05:37 AM
This misspelling changed the way I read the article -- please fix it.
Posted by: Jack | Apr 1, 2012 9:10:35 AM
He also sleeps in a van down by the river. God I hate Spelling Nazis.
Posted by: TonyT | Apr 1, 2012 9:13:05 AM
And why is it in italics? It's almost like you're taunting the reader with your error.
Posted by: Erich | Apr 1, 2012 9:15:36 AM
Sorry to be a spelling Nazi but let me just say that this is a fantastic, useful, fun, informative website that I check many times daily. Spelling errors like that unfortunately trash the credibility of the writer, and our community and the larger world both benefit when lots of people read Towleroad and take its content to heart. The gaffe was just a small one that doesn't any presumably busy, weekend-working writer or editor a war criminal. Neither should pointing the gaffe out be regarded as a crime worthy of a Nuremberg trial.
Posted by: Steve Scarborough | Apr 1, 2012 9:20:35 AM
Its a bit much to go after CNN's journalism when there's some confusion over principal/principle.
Also, really, who is this guy? What are his education qualifications? Letting charismatic strangers into schools to outsource pastoral care isn't usually strong policy. Or you can end up with a Christianist metal band telling girls not to get abortions if they don't want God to hate them.
I tend to agree with the principal that bullying needs a long-term approach, not a half-day seminar with a guy more likely to be remembered for his appearance and his noises than his message.
Posted by: Clif3012 | Apr 1, 2012 9:29:17 AM
OK, you're not a bunch of Nazis. More like a gaggle of grammar grannies or prissy old schoolmarms.
Posted by: TonyT | Apr 1, 2012 9:41:22 AM
@Tony Alliteration, it's fun.
Posted by: Erich | Apr 1, 2012 9:42:36 AM
I opened my inbox, saw the story had eight comments before 9 a.m., and thought: Damn. I probably misspelled "principal."
Thank you,
- BKT
Posted by: Brandon K. Thorp | Apr 1, 2012 9:50:16 AM
This guy paid a visit to my school in the UK seven or eight years ago. As someone who was bullied at school, I found that my situation improved drastically after his seminar. He broke the tension that had been pervasive prior to his arrival, and bullying rates seemed to drop off significantly.
Obviously he can't single-handedly stop bullying altogether, but the impact of the services he offers shouldn't be underestimated.
Also, it was clear that Brandon meant 'principal' by the use of 'who' following it - stop being so bloody picky.
Posted by: JD | Apr 1, 2012 10:01:45 AM
@Steve S. This is a blog, not a newspaper. Spelling errors will occur. Get over it.
Posted by: Reppin2 | Apr 1, 2012 10:11:22 AM
LOL at BKT. Love your blog. Spelling and all!
Posted by: Reppin2 | Apr 1, 2012 10:13:25 AM
Minnesota seems to be doing everything in their power to become known as the anti-anti-bullying state.
Anoka-Hennepin anyone?
Though I agree with the principal that being engaged with the students from the moment they walk through the front door of the school is one of the effective ways to reduce bullying, it's pretty clear that completely eradicating bullying will require a multi-pronged approach. I've never understood it when people act as if you can't do one thing WHILE doing another. It's like when gay people say that we can't fight for marriage equality in America as long as gay people are being hanged in Iran or we can't fight for liberty, justice and equality for all AND work to improve the economy at the same time.
Posted by: TampaZeke | Apr 1, 2012 10:20:30 AM
And, once again, a comment of mine critical of the piece is not posted.
@Reppin2, this may be a blog... but it also headlines itself as "more than gay news... gay men." During the week, this blog has the distinction of being an award-winning source for news of, and of interest to, the "gay community." It has set a standard.
On weekends, though, it seems as if some just-out-of-high-school intern is given the keys to the newsroom, so to speak. The entire editorial voice changes and, when the weekend person does include Towleroad's version of a news ticker, the formatting of that news listing changes.
But, no, the misuse of "principle" for "principal" is not a spelling error. The two words have two distinct meanings. It's tantamount to referring to a newspaper editor letting one of their reporters refer to our nation's Capital, rather than Capitol.
Though,with the money the Koch brothers and others have dumped into GOP races, perhaps "Capital" would be the more appropriate term.
Posted by: Eric Payne | Apr 1, 2012 10:32:51 AM
Consideration = An Individual's Interpretation.
On April Fool's Day, these posts are priceless...
"Appreciation" pays well; you can make cash
just by being "polite." Don't wait waist time here
kvetchng.
Get out & show some.
You could be driving home in a new Lexus.
This afternoon.
Posted by: Marcito | Apr 1, 2012 10:33:51 AM
BKT just remember the principal is your pal. LOL.
Posted by: palto | Apr 1, 2012 10:39:47 AM
This guy means well - but he's a really bad speaker - and the time I saw him he actually poked fun at gay people a couple times - WHILE giving his non-bullying speech. I walked out of the room and left until he was finished. It was nothing too bad - but the fact that he didn't realize what he was doing, just annoyed me that someone had paid him to come speak. That said, I have no doubt the CNN report is overblown - but I don't think it counts as a generated controversy like they do on Fox or anything.
Posted by: Cal | Apr 1, 2012 10:40:34 AM
OMG, picky, picky, picky! “There is so much gud in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us; it ill behooves any of us to telk about the rest of us.” I am a writer, author I have self-pubished, “Decoding the Gospel of Thomas.” It has boo boos in it. It drives me nuts when the grammar police start picking a writer’s work apart. In the past righting was the only art form where the artist lost control of their work to editors and publishers. Mow an author can keep control of their work and publish it with all its wrinkles and warts. It’s the content of thought note the occasional miss-spelled word people. What would have happened to Van Gough if he had, had to run his work through editors and publishers before he could exibit it? Stick your egos in your pockets. Nither are you gods or goddess. Look to cleaning up your own acts.
Posted by: Ray T. | Apr 1, 2012 10:57:53 AM
@Ray You're a writer? Ha, you had me for a minute until I remembered it's April Fool's Day.
Posted by: Erich | Apr 1, 2012 11:33:34 AM
Scarborough-
Get used to it. Most people under 40 were taught by teachers who thought it was more important that the children write essays than it was that they learn English. They thought that if they corrected the spelling (or god forbid insisted on good penmanship) it would stifle creativity and drive Indigo children to the edge of peanut allergy.
So now we have people who want you to know that they must be intelligent because they are currently in college, who maintain that their poor grammar and spelling is simply "internet speak" but in real life these people aren't any better.
We have an entire generation of twenty-somethings who have apparently lost the ability to properly pronounce words which end in ent, ant, or int. Who say "did-dint" and "off-ten"; who have no grasp of the subjunctive, and who ruin every spoken sentence with inappropriate rising intonation (aka high rising terminal).
Posted by: David Hearne | Apr 1, 2012 11:50:10 AM
My cardiologist won't let me work anymore. For awhile, I watched daytime television and became a "semi-junky" of the "Judge Judy"-esque genre of court television. There is, in my opinion, no better display of the "dumbing down" of the younger people in America than watching these people, plaintiffs and defendants alike, attempting to argue their respective cases.
"I borrowed to them," instead of "I made a loan to them." And my personal favorite, at which I consistently cringe: "Numerous of times."
Brrrr.
Posted by: Eric Payne | Apr 1, 2012 12:02:31 PM
"Unlettered tattoo guy... Freelance gig... One of the very few professionals"
Tattoo me confused. I was under the impression that becoming "lettered" gives one legitimacy as a professional (or so I tell myself each time I make payments on my school loans). Education, degrees, specific training, licensing - who needs that when you have passion? Because as we all know, belief is more important than education.
So what if this guy, as claimed above, makes anti-gay comments in his presentation. He means well, right?
Posted by: TJ | Apr 1, 2012 12:44:28 PM
I'm all for anything that can help to eliminate bullying. However, I like the program Challenge Day and feel it has the potential of being more successful in the long run. They get the kids together and provides youth and their communities with experiential programs that demonstrate the possibility of love and connection through the celebration of diversity, truth, and full expression. I have volunteered on several of these days in the local high school and it was life changing for these kids and the volunteers as well. They continue what they learned throughout the year. You find out why the bullies do what they do and how we all are going through the same issues. By the end of the day there are apologies and empathy and strong bonds made between bullies and bullied. It's very powerful.
Posted by: Debbie | Apr 1, 2012 2:25:57 PM
DEBBIE - I'm all for anything that "works," too. And I've looked into the Challenge Day program (saw a video on it and was impressed; wanted to see about becoming a leader, but one must live in the Bay Area). The training looks to be extensive as well.
I'm all for experiential learning opportunities, too. When one participates and is forced to interact and feel, the effects are powerful and long-lasting. However, I'd like this experience to be evidence-based as effective. I'd like the person leading the experience to have some training. Anyone can be a "life coach." It takes years of learning, internships, supervision, and testing to become a licensed therapist.
Which brings me to my irritation with the author of this blog post as well as "The Scary Guy." The only "evidence" that he is effective seems to be that he makes a living at it . He states that his most powerful message is that a person can choose who they want to be and what messages they take in. But he is an "Edutainer" who makes funny noises and barfs in front of his audience and tells people what to do. People can "know" what to do without having the skills or support to make permanent changes. And telling people that they can make choices about the information they let in is like telling women that they can avoid rape by not walking alone or watching their drinks in a bar without making an effort to educate men to not rape and not put drugs in drinks. It doesn't change the culture.
CNN's reporting seemed pretty balanced to me, and was right to question this guy's credentials, effectiveness, and method.
People spend thousands of dollars to have the "experience" of being in a sweat lodge. And charlatans are all to willing to lead the experience. And sometimes people die from it.
Posted by: TJ | Apr 1, 2012 4:36:25 PM
TJ:
Thanks for reading. I'm all for questioning a professional about his skills, especially when the professional deals with children. And I'm not claiming that The Scary Guy is effective. I've got no evidence one way or the other.
But CNN *should* have evidence if they're gonna cast doubt on the guy's abilities. They don't present any. They make a lot of mistrusting noise, and make exactly zero points. As I mentioned in the blog post, reporter Randi Kaye sows doubt with a few carefully placed words -- unnecessary "buts" and scary-sounding but vague phrases like "but some people claim ... "
So, recap: I don't know if The Scary Guy is effective. But to insinuate that he's not without presenting any evidence, as CNN does, is irresponsible.
- BKT
Posted by: Brandon K. Thorp | Apr 1, 2012 5:11:34 PM