For teens and pre-teens, we expect pettiness; while adults are expected to behave like adults. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton broke this norm on the afternoon of Thursday, June 9, via Twitter. But does this truly shock us? Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is not exactly known for his kind smile and sweet-as-syrup personality. Sexist is a popular word used by the public to describe Trump. As the universe would have it, our misogynistic candidate is running against a female candidate. Cue the blatant disrespect.
Trump is no stranger to the magical world of Twitter. His tweets often cause uproars among millennials. The twitter "beef" with Clinton was no exception but Clinton is not an innocent victim. Trump poked the bear by tweeting about Obama's endorsement of, "Crooked Hillary." An instance of Trump's classic name-calling. Instead of acting her age and ignoring the jab, Clinton quoted the tweet and typed the response, "Delete your account." Clinton should have taken the high-road, but she decided to stoop to Trump's level and encouraged another response in which he mocked her large staff number and mentioned the incident involving Hillary wrongfully deleting emails from her account.
With all of our computers and smartphones, cyberbullying is a serious threat to younger generations. Hiding behind a screen gives teens and pre-teens a false bravado. Leaving nasty comments that degrade and objectify are easier when you can't see the impact they have on the individual. Like any type of bullying, cyber-bullying is a sign of weakness and inferiority. As we grow older, we become more sure of ourselves and don't feel the need to compensate by hurting others; however, Trump and Clinton seem to have skipped that stage in life. Many millennials have been a victim of or took part in cyber-bullying so they have a pretty good grasp on what it looks like and the effects it has. Immaturity like this is what makes it hard for most millennials to stand behind Trump or Clinton.
We live in an age where social media dictates who we are and how people perceive us. That being said, Trump is just a bully and Clinton is just a pandering liar. This bully and liar are two people hoping to run the U.S. but they can't seem to get a grip on their child-like behaviors. This country is not a doll-house and we, the citizens, are not their toys to play with. If these candidates know what's good for them--and the U.S.--they'll revisit their adolescence and find where they went wrong. Trump and Clinton, it's time to grow up.
