Why Is Everyone Being So Mean?

It all begins with a simple post, like this one:

Funniest part is that it should say "you're"!

I love these, so every time I am on Facebook and I come across one I'm hooked. I read carefully, I come up with my answer, read the riddle again for confidence and then I dive into the comments to see what everyone else got.

And that's when it happens.

Every single time.

The masses disappoint me.

Why does everyone have to be so mean to those who guess incorrectly? Here are some of the statements from tonight's comment section:

• " It's Mary. You people are idiots. Mary's dad had 5 daughters. It names 4. Mary is the 5th daughter. I just lost all hope in humanity."
• "MARY...you morons...!!! Read it...'Mary's father...'"
• "Mary duhhh" (this one might not be malicious)
•  "Mary... dumbasses"

I won't go on. I think you get the picture. I just don't understand why we feel the need to berate each other in these situations. First of all, these are supposed to be fun. I think everyone knows that this is not what determines whether or not your IQ is at genius level. Secondly, does anyone truly believe that everyone reads their Facebook News Feed with 100% of their attention? But, most importantly, are people not allowed to make mistakes anymore?

This type of behavior - berating others when mistakes are made - is something that I would not tolerate in my classroom. I celebrated mistakes. How do we learn without making mistakes? I read and reread riddles like this one, because, in the past, I was caught by one. I learned from that. I smile at all the people who write "Nunu" as their answer, because I imagine it is their first time seeing this type of riddle. I know they'll kick themselves when they realize why they are wrong and, I imagine that they'll laugh when they realize it, like I did. 

 How are people supposed to laugh when they are being called "an idiot," "a moron," or "a dumbass"?

I don't know if this hits me especially hard because of my history in the classroom. I don't know if it is because I know that this is how children behave before they learn how harmful it can be. And I don't want to berate these people for making a mistake, themselves, in the way they treat people they don't even know. However, I wish that they could learn from these mistakes and not get so twisted because a complete stranger made a silly mistake on a riddle in a Facebook post.

 To love one another is so very simple, I know some day we'll all get it.

Thank you so much for reading!

And just remember...