On March 28, host of Fox News show The Ingraham Angle Laura Ingraham tweeted about student-turned-activist David Hogg being rejected from colleges. Then the controversy and backlash started.

Let’s ignore the political background of these two individuals for a second and think about this event in the simplest of terms. A fully-grown adult, who is the mother of three children, taunted a high school senior for being rejected from college. Let that sink in.

The first thing that probably comes to mind is the word “immaturity.” Yes, it is extremely immature – not to mention petty – for a television show host to bully (it is nothing less than bullying) a minor for not getting accepted to a few colleges. For being so petty, the drama is definitely getting a lot more attention than it deserves.

But that’s just the nature of today’s political culture. Somehow, the media cannot stop talking about the small things that were said by one politician to another, the trash talking, the name calling. It has come to a point where Americans (including myself) are not even aware of actual policies being implemented or debated but are fully aware of all the nicknames that their favored candidate has for their opponent.

All of this makes me want to shut out this remark over a 4.1 GPA, and I wish that other people and the media would too. But part of me feels that this petty act of bullying is somehow important. It draws attention to the extent of polarization that our country faces (not that we didn’t already know that, but a little reminder every now and then doesn’t hurt given that we’re all living in our own bubbles all the time). It shows how degraded political discourse has become (what does “civilized” mean, again?).

But perhaps most importantly, it gives encouragement to other teenagers to stand up for what they believe in and to speak up for what they deem is important, because this is their country, too. David Hogg is a role model for his peers to maintain grace and dignity even while being ridiculed by a 54-year-old. He didn’t stoop to her level (like so many other prominent figures have in the past when fighting their own political opponents, on Twitter or otherwise), but rather indirectly pushed back, saying “No matter who somebody is, no matter how big or powerful they may seem, a bully is a bully, and it’s important that you stand up to them.”

Hogg didn’t have to engage in a three-day Twitter war to show that he wasn’t going to take Ingraham’s petty comments. And that’s how it should be.

So, yes, her behavior sadly only feeds the vicious cycle of heated arguing in place of rational debating, but his response is something every one of us can learn from. It deserves attention, even if what instigated it does not.