A reporter was left gob-smacked after a young boy shouted a derogatory phrase at her while filming a news segment.
Michelle Mackey is a CityNews Toronto journalist in Canada and was filming what she described as a 'feel-good' report when the worrying incident occurred.
As many TV reporters will know, the public doesn't always act favorably when someone's filming, but it's safe to say that Mackey wasn't expecting what this young boy shouted at her.
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The kid, whom Mackey believes to have been around eight or nine years old, shouted a line that was doing the rounds on social media some years ago where men would shout 'f**k her right in the p***y' at women.
Apparently the boy who shouted this at Mackey also was with his father who failed to reprimand his son for his crude remarks.
Sharing the video of the moment, which Mackey censored, she wrote on TikTok: "This was one of the most alarming things I’ve witnessed as a news reporter.
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"What looked to be an 8 or 9-year-old boy yelled this at me, WITH HIS FATHER BY HIS SIDE. They proceeded to laugh and walk away.
"Out of respect for the child, I’m blurring their faces. Whether this is yelled at a man or woman, it perpetuates and normalizes misogyny. I thought this horrible trend was over."
Mackey has since discussed the matter in more detail in an interview with TODAY.com.
"I haven’t heard [the phrase] in a really long time. I’ve heard it before, but it’s been years, and I was shocked to hear it again," the journalist said of the incident.
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"When I looked over and saw [that the boy] said it, I was beyond disturbed. It looked to be an 8 or 9-year-old boy, and he was either with his dad or grandfather, and the two of them were just giggling. They were just laughing. They thought it was hilarious."
Apparently Mackey tried to call them over to confront them about it, but they simply walked off.
She went on: "I just wanted to be able to look that father and kid in the eye and say, 'Can you say that again to me, looking me in the eye as a human being?'"
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She further described the phrase the boy used as 'violating', but she doesn't blame him for what he said and said that it's the adult's fault 'for not saying something'.
In a message to the dad who allowed his son to say such a thing and find the whole thing funny, Mackey said: "You probably are coming at this from a place of humor, and you probably think this is funny and not harmful, but I just hope you can consider the words that came out of your mouth and really think about what those words mean.
"And just ask yourself... would you look in the eye of someone you love and say that to them?"
Niamh Shackleton