Speaking of desensitizing, I was browsing YouTube the other day, where I subscribe to a couple channels that expose police brutality. By some algorithmic fluke, YouTube threw a recommendation at me for a related but different kind of channel.

It's by a kid, maybe 13 or 14 years old. It's a spoof channel where he dresses up as a cop and acts out reality TV cop shows. He and his friends and siblings are all white, and they seem like pretty nice kids. They're just playing games, so I don't want to sound like I'm criticizing them.

But what they do is act out police brutality. Two or three of them will be the criminals, and the kid who hosts the channel will arrest them, usually after knocking them to the ground and using a lot of physical force. And speaking to them with bullying disrespect.

This kid is just emulating what he sees on TV and what he thinks is normal. His videos have really taken off, some of them getting over 100,000 views.

It's frightening to realize this is how kids think police should behave. These kids think it's cool.

It's hard to imagine how to institute genuine police reform in an environment where even children think bullying cops are fun and cool.