>> she doesn't like our country? who is this guy? where does he get this idea? she's a very nice person. >> clearly confused. >> that's it for 360. thanks for watching. "larry king" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com on the tee. tiger woods. >> larry: tonight, he's back. tiger's first tournament since the sex scandal forced him from golf. cheered and not jeered at the masters. then, three teens plead not guilty today in the case of a schoolmate who may have been bullied to death. dr. laura reveals in-depth her own childhood torments. we'll take your calls, too, next on "larry king live." good evening, tiger is no stranger to competition, scrutiny or pressure.

so is it any surprise that he's four under par, two off the pace today, his best masters start ever? here to talk about tiger's return are two journalists who are at augusta, jim gray, the correspondent for the golf channel and doug ferguson, the golf writer with the associated press. all right, jim, frankly, were you surprised at his performance today? >> reporter: well, it's really astonishing, the man hasn't competed in 144 days, he has had all kinds of trouble brewing at home, a worldwide scandal, and he comes out here, and if he makes a few more puts, he really could be leading the tournament. he was composed, he was crystal clear, he seemed to be showing very little rust, he missed some putts that he usually would make. he seemed for the first time in a long time to kind of enjoy the walk. he said he was, after the round, at peace. it seemed to go very well, yes, it's surprising but it's also surprising that we have a

50-year-old man leading the tournament, freddy couples. so it's all been a very surprising and uplifting day here at augusta national. >> larry: how do you explain despite the fact that he did things that got him terrible publicity that he was so cheered today? >> reporter: well, you know, he hasn't committed any crimes. he simply disappointed a lot of people with his behavior. and he's let down an awful lot of children by not being the role model that he had hoped he would be and that they had hoped he would be. i mean he was a great, great golfer and he proved today that he hasn't lost his game. so i think the people here are showing appreciation for their golf. i don't think that anybody's standing up here today when they're cheering him and saying geez, that's great, let's all go out and have these type of affairs and think that that's going to be the norm of life. i don't think that's what was said here. i think this is a respectful place where people appreciate the golf. we all want to picasso paint. we all want to see michael angelo sculpt, we want to see

tiger woods play golf. and that's what this is. and he played golf today. so i wouldn't misinterpret the reception. you know, he's been torn down. it's been a tremendous fall from grace, larry, and i think that, you know, once that happens you build him up to tear them down and now they're building him up again. his play was outstanding today so he should have been cheered. >> larry: he is a buddhist. someone flying a small plane over augusta today had fun with word play. the plane had a huge sign that said, "tiger, did you mean bootyism?" did you expect for stuff like that, jim? there's the sign that said "tiger, did you mean bootyism? and apparently was jim having a problem hearing us? jim, did you hear us? >> reporter: i do hear you now. yes. >> larry: we're having some connection problem, we'll come back and we'll meet two

extraordinary men of american letters, steven a. smith and john saddler. they will have an intellectual discussion about what were the occurrences today in georgia. don't go away.

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>> larry: we're back to having some tough weather in augusta, so we'll go back to jim gray sand doug ferguson and then we'll meet steven smith and john sally. doug, what did you make of ti r tiger's play today? >> i was a little surprised, larry, because we never see him play this well even in good times, but i think the key to his whole day today, frankly, was about the four-foot par putt he made on the second hole. what happened in the u.s. open when he came off the long break in 2008, he got behind early and affected how he got into the rhythm of the round. when you get through the third hole at one under and you're staying on par all day, it relaxed him and he started to go after some easy pins. >> larry: were you surprised at the crowd's reaction to him, though? >> reporter: not really, larry, because he's been out here on

monday. strangely enough, once he gets out here on monday it feels like five months was gone like that. he's out tuesday, wednesday, and seems like it's back to normal in terms of his golf. i thought today was the most spontaneous reaction to him. it was a little bit guarded. people were not quite sure how to react to him. earlier in the week, it just felt more natural, i think everyone was just waiting to see how he played and see how he did. >> larry: jim, is there any doubt that he's the greatest of them all? >> reporter: well, he needs to win the titles. he has 14 major championships. he is four behind jack nicklaus. he certainly probably in all likelihood will go down as the greatest golfer ever. he has to get to 19. that's what tiger woods says. that's what jack nicklaus knows. that's what everybody who follows this game knows. if he were to quit playing golf for the rest of his life today, there would be some in some quarters who would say he's the greatest golfer ever but he would never have the records.

>> larry: i'll put it this way. is he the best you ever saw? >> reporter: well, no, i saw jack nicklaus. as long as tiger woods is going to say jack nicklaus is the best, and i saw jack nicklaus i'm going to say jack nicklaus is the best. >> larry: doug, is he the best player you ever saw? >> reporter: a little more unfair for me, larry, because i only saw jack when he was 46 and won his sixth green jacket. i think tiger's the best of his generation. that's the only way you can look at this. jack was the best of his. hogan was the best of his. jones, you can go all the way back. just look at what you got today. >> larry: thank you both very much. we'll be checking back with you. jim gray and dug ferguson. here with us now, steven a. smith in new york, the nationally syndicated radio host for fox sports radio and the columnist for "the philadelphia enquirer" and former nba star broadcaster and commentator on the passing scene, john sally.

steven smith, were you surprised at the whole story today? >> not necessarily. i mean, tiger woods i consider to be the best in the world, the best i've ever seen. fact is he had time off. you know, regardless of being in the sex addiction clinic or whatever he wants to call himself being, he had plenty of time to work on his game, to practice just a little bit. i'm quite sure he got on that golf course little and worked on his game. he's focused. he knows what it takes. he's won born. he's a born winner. this is his sanctuary. if he doesn't win here that brings more fuel to the flames. he recognized that. he stepped up and performed. i'm not surprised at all. >> larry: john, did it surprise you? >> no, he's the greatest golfer of all time. literally i'm going to learn to play golf because i was so into what tiger woods is doing and for jim gray to say he's not the

greatest of all time, how can you say michael jordan was the best of all time? it's not about how many titles. yes, he's the greatest player of all time. what he did today is prove what he does on the golf course has nothing to do with what he does anywhere else. >> larry: earlier this week, billy payne, the chairman of augusta national golf club was very critical of tiger and tiger responded today. listen to this and we'll get our guests' comments, watch. >> it's not simply the degree of his conduct that's so egregious here, it's the fact that he disappointed all of us and more importantly, our kids and our grandkids. our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we sought for our children. >> billy payne said some pretty tough things about you yesterday. did he say those to you firstly before he said them to all of us?

did he discuss that with him? >> we did have a conversation, yes, we did. >> what did he say? >> i was disappointing myself too. >> larry: billy payne except in rare circumstances being universally wrapped today. what did you think of what he said? >> he deserved it. he was a disgrace. it's embarrassing. the hypocrisy this man exhibited by giving this speech, i can't get into that. i mean, this is a man that ostracize -- this is a club that ostracizes women. before tiger woods, there was a debate as to whether or not african-americans would ever be invited to augusta, for crying out loud. and this man is going to sit here and talk about how our kids have been disappointed in all of this stuff in mind you, it's the timing of it that rakes my nerves. simply because he could have giving this soliloquy, this sermon, he's not the priest, he's not the pope. considering the sermon that he gave, he could have given it on monday, heck, he could have gave it on sunday. no, he chooses to wait until two

days after tiger woods spoke to the media and was trying to put this past him to sit here and basically chastise this guy publicly and give them a verbal lashing. and i think it was disgraceful, hypocritical, the only good thing that has come out about it was what he heard from campbell brown and christine brennan before your show came on when they said he's provoked them to talk about other issues like why women haven't been involved in agust do. he's a walking hypocrite, plain and simple. >> listen, that was probably one of the only times or two times agreed with steven. the fact he came out and talked about our children and grandchildren, are you kidding me? do you know what that guy probably did in his past? and i'm just sitting around thinking, people are talking about their kids and their grandkids, charles barkley said it best, raise your kids. tiger woods should be their hero when it comes to sports. he should be their hero when he hits the ball.

everything else -- what he does in his personal life, this is ridiculous when people are sitting around saying this. you have no business talking about it, your kids, my grandkids, my grandkids grandkids. the house i had back on the -- that's ridiculous. i remember when i was -- when i was paying attention to augusta and everybody was talking about going to the masters and why they named it the masters and why you couldn't have women there and when tiger first went there, i thought it was amazing when he won his first green jacket and he thanked all the guys that came before him that went through the struggle. tiger is a real role model, and he's a standup guy and he's smart enough to just say that guy's right, next question. >> let's not go too far off the road here, john, i don't agree with you there at all. it's not what tiger woods has done or the extreme to which he's purportedly or allegedly done things that he doesn't deserve to be scrutinized because of it. let's be clear. even though kids and athletes

shouldn't be role models, they are role models and there's a responsibility that comes along with it. all i'm saying is that mr. payne, mr. payne of all people shouldn't be calling him out the way that he did and the timing was disastrous, but that's entirely different than giving tiger woods a complete pass. that's all i'm saying. >> we also hold his feet to the fire longer than we have anybody else. >> i agree with you. >> enough is enough. >> larry: tiger's ad for nike is polarizing, some think it's brilliant. where do you stand? watch it and see for yourself next.

>> larry: joining us, donnie deutsch, chairman of deutsch incorporated, and david cornwell 3 sports attorney, nobody he has represented a number of athlete, among his current client, pittsburgh steeler quarterback ben roethlisberger. he is accused, by the way, of sexual assault. nike has a new tiger ad out just yesterday featuring his late father's voice, getting a lot of attention. we'll have our whole panel discuss it. watch. >> tiger, i am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion. i want to find out what your thinking was, i want to find out what your feelings are, and did you learn anything? >> larry: okay, we'll start with donnie deutsch and go around. what do you make of that, donnie?

>> stunningly brilliant. genius, one of the single best pieces of advertising i have seen in a decade. >> larry: because? >> what nike did, what they did in one fell swoop, instead of ignoring what went on and having him play golf in an ad, and say wait a second, is there something this guy has not learned? the voice of god, the voice of his conscience, his father, in a very stoic way. that this man is carrying this with him. don't think that there's not a new level of consciousness, there's not a new level of hopefully of morality. i think it was brilliant. it was artfully, boldly, stunningly done. kudos to nike. >> larry: david, you're a cleaner. was this a clean bit of work? >> reporter: i thought the ad was brilliant as well. another thing was it was consistent. or it is consistent with tiger's statement when he said he needed to go back to his roots. what better way than connecting him back to his father? on the 17th green i was sitting

next to tiger's mother and phil knight. phil knight is clearly pleased with this ad and proud of it. i think they did a great job. >> larry: and what do you think, mr. sally? >> i think it was brilliant just like donnie said. it got to the point, the only people that are in his head really when you come down to it is his backbone of his family, his mother, his father, hiss wife, his children. >> larry: isn't it a little weird, though, the voice of a dead person? >> i have watched movies of people who have passed and i have seen some things when you show it. >> larry: let's see if steven makes this a complete agreement. steven? >> i do completely agree. think it was absolutely brilliant. a think what a lot of people have failed to recognize you have some people that they sit around and talk an how, you know what, it's kind of creepy or what have you. i say, wait a minute, all of us have loved ones. some alive, some who have passed away, that we hear them talking to us at key pivotal moments and junctures in our lives. the fact is that was the

situation with tiger woods. i'm in new york city today. i ran into oprah winfrey today, she asked me the same question, i said, listen, he's talking, his father was talking to him, that is what he hears himself, he hears his father talking to him, giving him counsel in his time of need. all of us go through that at some point, in a pivotal time in our life and i think it was an ro powe and more importantly it was showing tiger wasn't looking to run from this issue for a change. he was willing to tackle it head-on and recognize and say to the world, listen, i know what i've done, i've manned up, i've owned up finally. let's move forward. >> what mikenike -- >> larry: jimmy kimmel had a lot of fun with this on his show based on the ad. watch. >> there's another commercial premiering tomorrow, another tiger woods commercial this one featuring the voice of his mother. >> tiger, what the [ bleep ] were you thinking? you stupid, stupid boy. always using your [ bleep ] instead of your brain.

didn't i always tell you not to sleep with [ bleep ]? you're a [ bleep ]! >> larry: all right, donnie, that was a little brilliant, wasn't it, donnie? >> that was perfect. by the way, watching his mea culpa, i was more afraid of his mother than any woman or man on the history of the planet. i would not want to be answering that woman either. whether they used his father or not, the important thing for nike, they had to say to their audience, to the people that buy their stuff, you know what? yes, we're sticking with him, but we're not blind to what went on. we have to pay homage to people who have had major issues with them. i'm going to stand by what i said all along. whether he did this ad or not, one man is not buying one less golf club or one golf hat because of what tiger woods did with women. the reason he's up here is because of the greatest golfer in the world. john mentioned earlier the charles barkley ad. he's not a role model because of any other reason than that. let's grow up and understand that. >> let's also make sure to

mention this about nike, let's not completely absolve them and treat them as they're pure as the fallen snow, for crying out. nike not only recognize that it shows that they're consistent and their message is consistent but it also helps them appeal to a lot of aspiring athletes or future stars in various sports because when you stand by tiger in this manner, particularly as he's going through what he's going through right now, it helps you ingratiate yourself with future stars that are looking to do deals -- >> larry: let me get a break. we'll come back. steven sees motive in all things. we'll come right back with our panel. don't go away. introducing quattron quad pixel technology. it adds a fourth color, yellow, to the standard rgb color system, creating a vast array of colors you can't see with your tv's three color technology. but, you can see this. whoa! oh my.

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>> larry: david cornwell, we have been kidding around a lot about this, there's some humor in it. but seriously, can he return all the way to good graces where in two years this is forgotten? okay we lost the signal to augusta. again there's a terrible -- i'll ask steven smith -- let's go to john sally this time around. can you put it away? like i say, they o pitch wait people in this world now.

always something they'll tag on to. kobe has gotten past it, people are not even talking about it. they're going to say now that we know that tiger used to like sex. but they're going to get past this whole problem of people putting something on him. he's a golfer. >> larry: donnie, do you think he'll get past this? >> he'll be bigger than ever, because the story we love after taking someone down is bringing them back. if anything, one knock on this guy you could say is he wasn't human. this has made him human. what he did half the people in the world do, it's not right, but as long as he kind of repents, i'm not sitting in judgment, but walks the straight line with what people think she should be doing if he's married. can your research people check and see if there's any jews in augus augusta? i was so violated and disgusted by his speech, the way he was bashing tiger. >> they hooked up.

they got the last and first row seats so i couldn't get on the plane. >> larry? >> larry: steven, yes. >> i'd like to answer that question. it's the big elephant in the room but i'll say it since john and donnie missed out on it. the men have already forgiven him. the women probably never will. >> steven, the men were never mad at him. the men were like, so what. >> that's what i meant. the men have no problem with him. >> the women on "the view" agree with you, steven, because they wanted to get on "the view." the keel is women love a gangster, they love the bad boy. >> a lot of them do. >> relax. >> more importantly, you're going to have a lot of women who are going to have a problem with him. the men as a result are going to pretend to have a problem with him because they don't want to alienate the women in their lives. >> women don't matter. the products he sells, razor blades, video games.

golf clubs. it's all men. it doesn't matter. they don't care. >> i was just answering larry's question, that's all. >> this is a whole new thing, this should be a viagra show. >> larry: i'm losing control here. okay. can tiger -- now let's get to the sports aspect, can he win this tournament, john? >> yes, he's going to win this tournament. >> larry: going to win. >> this would have been the greatest week -- he's going to win this tournament. i'm watching. everyone is -- it's third. no one ever watches tv. we don't pay attention to it. this is the best weekend, i'm watching golf this weekend. i'm telling you it's going to be -- >> larry: can he win it, ste steveen? >> i don't think there's any question, if he's within two shots come saturday, i think that palms are going to get sweaty, people are going to get nervous because they know tiger is coming and tiger is going to turn it on. because if he can get through the first day, every day is going to get that much easier for him.

if he's within two shots come saturday afternoon, look out, he's taking the tournament. >> larry: donnie, can he win it? >> of course. here's the one thing that i -- people go, wow, he's playing golf, he's great again. what a shock. why wouldn't he be? so what. he went through his scandal. this is what he does for a living. this is his safe haven. i wouldn't expect anything different. why wouldn't he be playing great golf right now? >> larry: let's take a break and come back with more. thanks to secret flawless renewal... with odor-absorbing micro capsules that capture... odor and release a fresh scent. it's still working, so you can stop checking. [meow] desperate for nighttime heartburn relief? for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. and for the majority of patients with prescription coverage for nexium, it can cost $30 or less per month. headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain

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>> larry: philippe cousteau has written an exclusive for us on saving the environment. 3 what you can do to help. check it out, cnn.com/larryking. john cornwell is back with us, a good point he made with us during the break. with the rains occurring there tonight, those greens will be faster tomorrow, he might have a rough time tomorrow? >> reporter: i think he may very well. i think tiger had a 66 in his bag if he could have gotten control of the putter. that's going to be the key, how well he putts through the rest of the tournament and the course is just going to get harder. >> larry: by the way, david, is

off the subject, but is ben roth letburger going to come out okay? >> reporter: well, we certainly hope so, and there's good reason to believe so. the case has been turned over to make a decision whether or not to charge ben. there's no way to predict when that will happen, but we're hopeful for a good result. >> larry: all right. how far does this thing go? does the tiger woods thing eventually die down and he just becomes the great player tiger woods that we don't talk about? >> he's always going to show up on vh1 when they talk about scandals but still known as the great, great player. known as the great golfer. that's all he should be known as. >> larry: were you shocked to what we learned about tiger, the other side of tiger we all knew? are you shocked by the other side of this story? >> i'm never shocked by these things because when you're that young and you're that wealthy and you're that representable and that famous, temptation

comes at you every second. you're going to fall prey to that at some point in time. i think one of the things that we all have bypassed and it came back to my memory when his father earl woods was heard in this commercial, was the fact that his father was the one that had come out and quoted as saying he didn't think tiger should get married, he thought he was too young, he thought there were things he wasn't ready for. people forget that. we want our stars to come across as all wholesome and this other stuff. i'm telling you right now that this might go on that tiger becomes a great golfer and he is a great golfer, he can win, and he can get past this, even though he'll always be mentioned on vh1 like john said. if for some chance he decides or elin decides or both of them decide together to get a divorce this will all be revisited again. >> larry, once and for all, can we stop being shocked when men of power are adulterers? like multiple women?

it goes with the territory. john played ball. john, you'd walk out of stadiums. the women would be lined up -- i'm not saying you but the players. guys go, you, you, you. i'm not saying it's right. can we stop acting shocked when politicians, athletes, billionaires like because they have access. the difference is chris rock's got the joke. sometimes you can line up how much men fool around by what their options are. obviously a billionaire athlete like tiger woods has a lot of ogss. let's stop being shocked. i want to see the guy win the masters. i don't care what he does with his other putter frankly as far as i'm concerned. >> larry: do you think that he's learned his lesson? do you think -- this is purely a guess, that tiger will be clean from now on? >> i said it on your show weeks ago, months ago. i'll repeat it again, larry.

number 7, 11, 13, 16, 19 or whatever number amount of women he had, you don't go from that to zero. i don't care what anybody says. yes, for the time being he's behaving himself. yes because of the situation he's in and cares about his family and what have you. the reality is that you are who you are. when you get to that point where you feel the need to have that many women you may slow down a little bit. you're not going to stop completely. it just doesn't happen when you're that prolific. i don't mean that in the most positive way. it just doesn't. >> larry: john is a little perturbed by that. i want to get one more break, come back with this panel, couple more minutes then we'll meet dr. laura. oh sure, we have plenty of employees that...

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>> larry: and bad weather in augusta has caused us to lose david cornwell, we thank him for being with us. couple more minutes. steven a. smith, don sally and donnie deutsche. in speaking if tiger will return to bad ways, you were nodding your head viciously no. my opinion. >> yeah, you're right.

i was viciously -- steven is speaking from experience when he's talking. you can't really say what somebody else is doing. you can't really go and put that on somebody. it's not fair you're going to go and just put a stamp on someb y somebody. >> by the way, let's stop caring. let's stop caring whether he does or not. tiger woods doesn't exist in my consciousness because of what he does or doesn't do with women. the only reason he exists in my consciousness is to play golf. >> i can't take this any more. first of all we're on the lar we king live show to answer the question he asks. the man asked me a question. i gave him an answer. he didn't ask us to come on and express how we don't care. >> you gave him a book. you didn't give him an answer. you ate up all the time. a manuscript of how to overtalk. >> the man asked me a question. i don't believe you go from that many women to zero. simple. >> my interest whether he does or doesn't, who the hel cares.

that's an answer. >> you care about -- obviously care enough to answer. >> this time he's going to be smarter. he's going to go to people -- if he needs whatever he needs, if that's what he needs to make him be who he is, if that's his muse, he'll just pick them better. >> larry: oh, i see. isn't it like -- >> oh, so he will pick them bet ur now? >> i don't know -- even to this point. this is what everyone is pushing at this point. it was so funny. if that's his vice or his story or what it may be. he said it right when he talked about great men. i've been watching your show forever and watching jerry springer. i see all these shows. i've never seen a famous athlete or powerful women -- i've seen people with not many teeth with women. i saw one guy on mary because -- >> larry: why are you watching mary? >> i'm trying to learn to be a host.

then i started watching you. >> who's your tv daddy? who it you really want to get money from? that's what i'm saying. >> larry: thanks, guys. you're watching this -- on a serious topic -- i tell you what -- >> he's mad he's wearing hot clothes. >> jacket and pink shirt. >> it's purple. >> larry: we'll have them back. thanks. >> it's hd. >> larry: we will have this 4 panel back because i'm basically a masochist. john salley and donny deutsch, dr. laura is here and she will try to analyze all of this. she was hit as a kid, beaten up. a lot to say about that bullying case next. st. and facebook was still run out of a dorm room. when we built our first hybrid, more people had landlines than cell phones, and gas was $1.75 a gallon. and now, while other luxury carmakers are building their first hybrids,

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>> larry: before we go to dr. laura schlesinger from santa barbara, let's go to new york and anderson cooper, give us a clue as to what's coming up at the top of the hour? 3 anderson? tonight on "360" warns teachers that teaching sex education may be a crime if they teach a new state government mandated sex ed course, the district attorney says they could be arrested and serve up to six years in prison. how did this happen? we're keeping them honest. raw politics.

republican, democrat or tea partyer? action was taken today to bring a third political party to power with possibly sarah palin playing a prominent role. and saving haiti. hundreds of thousands living in tent cities around port-au-prince facing a potential disaster in the making. torrential rains could flood makeshift shelters. the government knew the rains were coming. are they ready? we'll talk with sean penn about the situation, those stories and a lot more tonight on "360. >> larry: that's anderson cooper, 10:00 eastern, 7:00 pacific. dr. laura schlesinger, here to talk about bullying, three teenaged girls in massachusetts have pled not guilty today to charges that they bullied their classmate, 15-year-old phoebe prince who committed suicide earlier this year. three other teens are also charged in the case. it's opened a flood gate of opinion about bullying in schools. what do you make of this story,

laura? >> frankly i'm pretty glad that somebody is taking this very seriously finally. because the type of bullying that has evolved using the internet, and physical violence and threats and ganging up has just escalated to an outrageous, it was not on harassment, it was not even bullying, this was persecution, that she killed herself, was her choice of options, and i am very sad. that is not their fault, but they drove her to a place where she thought there was no hope. her mother evidently had gone to the school. teachers had seen it. other kids had seen it. and i have a point to make about that in a moment. >> larry: you were bullied, am i correct? you were bullied as a kid? >> yeah, pretty severely when we moved into this neighborhood on long island. it was mostly one religious persuasion there and my mother

was a nice italian catholic, a drop dead gorgeous woman from italy and she was married to a jewish man and that's a bad thing. and i really took the grief for that because they would say horrendous things about my mother and i would defend her and then i got picked on and fistfights and thrown down a flight of stairs. i had my fun, i certainly understand what that torment is like, but it wasn't as long lasting as obviously, and as intense. >> larry: what was the point you said you wanted to make? >> well, the point i wanted to make was, i put all the parents in that school on a kind of trial. because we don't raise our children with the moral value to stand in between the innocent and evil. a lot of kids saw it, they watched it happen in front of them, they didn't physically get between these kids, they didn't stand up to them and say you

should stop doing this, they didn't go snitch, they let it happen. they twittered. they put it on their facebooks, they used it as entertainment like throwing christians to the lions. this was pretty insidious that a whole school full of children stood by and watched this happen, not only to this girl, but to other kids. so my word to the parents is that they have an ultimate responsibility to raise their children to do that. i remember my kid came home from school one time and said i'm in serious trouble, you have to go see the principal. what happened? i was in a fistfight. who started it? the other kid. how did he start it? he was picking on some small kid and i told him to stop and he shoved me. then what did you do? oh, i took him down. so i sent my husband in to talk to the principal because i didn't think i could control myself. my husband is very new english and he could do that. and my son is now in the military doing it on a bigger scale.

but we need to raise our kids to not stand by like little cowards afraid that somebody is going to turn on them. we have to protect each other. >> larry: why do you think parents and the like look away? why? >> i think we have more broken homes and shack-ups and remarriages and a lot of guilty participants. two full-time career parents, not very involved. don't want to know. can't be bothered. and just get their guilt turned into sort of an arrogant defensiveness when a teacher calls and says, you know, your kid's doing something wrong. not my kid, you punish my kid and i'm going to sue. you have parents suing when kids are sent home with inappropriate t-shirts with bad sayings on them. you have this arrogance and a lack of responsibility because the whole concept of a moral fabric and that we have a moral obligation to each other as a community, that's kind of gone. >> larry: how did you react when you were bullied?

what -- what scar, if any, did it leave on you? >> i cried. i was hurt. i would tell my parents. my father would go talk to some of the kids' parents. sometimes something would happen from it. sometimes not. eventually it just sort of faded into oblivion. i became very, i think, centered in myself. i learned how to entertain myself. study by myself. do crafts and things by myself. i became very self-supporting, and very careful about making friendships and still not that comfortable in groups. but, you know, in terms of me being hostile or angry about it, no. i mean, i don't have any -- i don't have any lingering hostilities but i am very hostile at parents and the kids who stand by and let this stuff happen. i mean, we're putting those kids on trial. i hope they get convicted as something. the more we elevate the consequences the less likely

these things are going to happen. larry, you have to think about it. these kids are taught by us to be nasty. i mean, even "american idol" you have judges that say nasty things to the people out there trying their best. we have reality television. what's the exciting part of reality television, when people are nasty to each other and it's mean. much of what you heard on radio, on television, on music and on the internet is all mean. we have raised our children to believe mean is the norm. we really shouldn't be surprised, but we have to stop it. >> larry: good point. as we know, not all teens behave badly. a case in point is our cnn hero of the week. a big-hearted bookworm who helps abused and homeless children. mackenzie lives with an agonizing and incurable disease but spends her time easing the pain of others by sharing her secret for relief. reading. she's only 16.

watch. >> i was in fifth grade when i hurt my knee. i'm ready. when something touches it, it's like a bomb goes off in my knee. the only thing able to get my mind off the pain was reading. you guys like to read? my pediatrician told me about the home for abused children. any child being in pain like this, they need something. and one thing i knew that helped me was books. thank you so much for donating. my original goal was to get 300 books. before i knew it, i had 3,000 books. my total right now is 38,000 books. i've delivered books to libraries and reading rooms and 27 different shelters in 6 states. take as many books as you want. if one child finds a love of reading through books that i've given them then that will turn their life around entirely.

i think reading can do that. >> mackenzie's given nearly 40,000 books to kids in 6 states. mackenzie, we applaud you. you're a terrific kid. have a hero of your own? nominate him or her at cnn.com/heroes. my subaru saved my life. i won't ever forget that.

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the word "bullying" is probably not even accurate. i mean, really, when you look at what happened with her, it's persecution. i mean, this thing was a hate crime. >> larry: we have a twitter, a tweet question for dr. laura. should schools reinstate corporal punishment? should teachers be given more power in circumstances like this? >> more power but not corporal punishment. i think these kids should be shamed. i remember when i was in college and a teacher caught a kid cheating, took him by the hand where he had answers to questions and took him to the front of the classroom and shamed him in front of anybody. i doubt he ever did that again. teachers are terrified. our kids are very spoiled. i mean, they get computers in kindergartens. they get ipods and cell phones all the way through. you know, when they graduate high school, they get sent to aruba.

i mean, we have just such spoiled-brat kids who have foul mouths. they sexually act out. our kids are out of control. and the teachers don't have control because the superintendents and the principals don't back them because parents sue instead of taking on parental responsibility for their arrogant children. >> larry: another tweet. how can we prevent our children from becoming bullies? >> one of the things you can do to prevent your kid from becoming a bully is when they act out in any inappropriate way of dominating or humiliating, that their consequences are severe. and so many parents -- i tell you, i tell parents, you know, the prior generation or the one before that would take the kid behind the barn with a switch. and you're asking me if you should take away their cell phone? that's the biggest consequence you can think of? so parents have to take back the responsibility of being leaders and parents, for god's sake.

>> larry: by the way, laura, have you got another book coming? you always have a book coming. >> yeah, i got a book coming out in september. lord, i had fun writing this one. >> larry: it is what? >> it's called "surviving shark attacks on land." it's a book about dealing with betrayal and revenge. i can't wait for you to talk to me when that one comes out. >> larry: you take off on harvey mckay's swim with the sharks. that was a business book. this is a book about who kind of shark? >> the person who betrays and undermines and how you deal with betrayal and revenge. revenge is mostly sweet in your mind. it's not that sweet when you execute it. >> larry: yeah, you're right. thanks, laura. always good seeing you. >> thank you. >> larry: dr. laura schlesinger. the internationally syndicated radio host, best-selling author