How much of drama in the school is from adult modeling, both in the popular media and the home? The norm is to be upset about something, to be stressed about something, to feel wronged by someone. It’s a victimization mentality, a life lived in the passive voice and ordered by second and third conditionals. What we see on the tabloids while waiting to check out at Publix is what the kids try to emulate in their daily interactions with others, both because of what they see in the media and because the media informs the behavior of so many adults around them.

Watch any reality TV show: it is one constant conflict. Granted, it’s a hyped, artificial conflict: this or that individual doesn’t want to get kicked of this or that show, and the backstabbing and conniving of other participants creates conflict and heightens audience self-identification: “Hey, I’ve been stabbed in the back like that myself!” we say when we known someone’s scheming on reality TV has paid off.