BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: Bullying

If a more recent episode of South Park is anything to go by, bullying isn't cool. Bullying is lame. Bullying is ugly and has a stupid name. For a healthy world, bullying's unfit, and I think I know what we should do to it. And a start has been made in Ohio, where one such bellend got what was coming to him - he was sentenced by a judge to spend five hours on Sunday wearing a sign reading "I AM A BULLY" at a busy suburban Cleveland intersection, and was greeted by a boisterous stream of honking car horns, jeers, and insults. The man, 62-year-old Edmond Aviv, who was clad in a hat and dark sunglasses, sat slumped in a green plastic chair holding the cardboard sign that is punishment for his treatment of a neighbor, whose husband suffers from dementia, and her seven children, several of whom have disabilities and use wheelchairs - specifically, he would call the neighbor, Sandra Prugh, "Monkey Mama" as she held her adopted African-American children, and he would smear dog poo on their wheelchair ramp. Aviv pleaded no contest (similar to a guilty plea) to fourth-degree disorderly conduct in March. South Euclid Municipal Court Judge Gayle Williams-Byers sentenced him to spend five hours on Sunday wearing a placard that must be readable from 25 feet (7.5 metres) away. The judge also sentenced Aviv to 15 days in jail, seven months' probation, 100 hours of community service, anger management classes, and mental-health counseling, according to court records. A probation officer was on hand on Sunday to protect Aviv and make sure he served out his sentence. His sign (pictured) reads: "I AM A BULLY! I pick on children that are disabled, and I am intolerant of those that are different from myself. My actions do not reflect an appreciation for the diverse South Euclid community that I live in." Among the many people who stopped to see Aviv serve his sentence was Alex Simmons, a former neighbor who said Aviv would call out racial slurs to people passing by. "Parents told us to stay away from the house. He would just stand on the porch and just call us names," Simmons said, adding, "Justice had been served."