Jezebel

Seriously, what can parents do? What education can we provide for parents who want to keep their kids out of these situations?

Well, there you go. the stain is already spreading.

In addition to being bad people, those kids are morons. The whole reason the Florida case came to light was because they got caught and are now in huge trouble.

Omg, Youtube really IS going to be the end of all of us.

And seriously, when I was 12 I was still playing Power Rangers at the park with my friends.

Which part were they inspired about? The part where the other girls got caught, or the part where they all went to jail?

What the hell kind of morons are we raising here?

It would also help if Vh1 and Mtv stopped glorifying girlfights as cool on their reality shows that they show during the day when the teens are home watching.
I don't know how many times I saw the commercial for the Rock of Love reunion with Heather punching Daisy in the head before it actually aired.

YAY DARWIN JUNIOR AWARDS!!!!!!!

Why is it, that the florida teens INSPIRED other kids to do it? You'd hope it would freak them out, and make them empathize with the girl who got beaten, not make them want to do the same thing. If nothing else, aren't these kids realizing that filming it and posting it online is how you get caught? I feel old and sad.

To be fair to the superintendant, there's nothing that he can do unless the attack occurred on school grounds. The school system's authority doesn't extend outside the school.

The police, though, can arrest them, and the DA can prosecute them, which I sincerely hope they will.

That is fucked up.

@BeckyIva: Education? How about parents use common sense? How about parents start enforcing rule sin their home and teaching children that there will be consequences for violating those rules? How about teaching them that violent acts of any type will not be tolerated?

This is going on because there is a lot of laissez faire parenting out there, because parents refuse to control or challenge their kids in order to "not stunt their emotional growth." And this is the result -- children with low morals and no scruples, who think nothing of beating a classmate and taping it so they can have their 15 minutes of Internet fame.

Apparently there is no magic number, considering we've had umpteen school shootings. These are "small potatoes".

Dear mommy, your child is not a precious snowflake. Your kid is an asshole. Thanks.

The hell?

@braak: They weren't inspired by the negative aspects, because they have not been taught about consequences.

I have this discussion with my kids all the time. I do not allow them to act any way they please. I am strict, perhaps sometimes harsh, but I want my kids to know that anything they do to someone else will have consequences far beyond the moment and that if they do something that goes beyond what society finds acceptable they will find themselves paying the price.

It won't be long before "inspiration" leads to "expiration." Eventually, as this spreads, we will hear of a group of young kids who will end up killing a classmate, not just hurting them.

Well, that's just awesome. Yes, let's not discipline them. That'll show 'em!

I say we bring back the stocks. I'd stand in line for hours to throw rotten produce at these little twerps.

not the greatest way to start off my monday. srsly, i weep for the future.

the intarwebz: bringing teen bullying to a whole new level. thanks a lot, Al Gore...

@NefariousNewt: I mean WTF? Laissez faire? With violence? I can understand if your child doesn't want to go to swim lessons or karate class; I'm not going to stiffle my child into a recreation he/she doesn't like. But sense?
Holy effing hell. I cannot believe this. What hellions are being raised? How difficult is it to teach that violence is wrong. WRONG? Or are these the kids being beat nightly themselves? It IS the parents' fault IMHO. Yeah society sucks these days, but come on. What the fuck?

@NefariousNewt: with their smart levels they'll probably both videotape themselves doing it and do it in plain view of a police officer and the news.

@Muffyn: I just re-read that and I don't want to be seen as coming across harsh on Nefarious. I was agreeing with him.

Did anyone else read this part:
The victim, who was treated for cuts and bruises at a hospital, was the daughter of a police officer.
I wonder if they targeted her because of her dad, or if they're just so stupid they didn't know it was a cop's kid. Here's a hint, idiots of the world, don't fuck with someone if their dad carries a gun to work.

You know, I've always been skeptical of the argument that violence on TV leads to violence. But seriously? When you have kids performing acts of violence just for the purpose of taping them, you've really gotta wonder.

Not only is this weird taping and posting of fights new, but I feel like this gang of people beating on one person is also new. Certainly, there were fights at my middle/high school, but it was always just the two people who had a problem with each other. If other people tried to jump in they were pushed away; it would have been a gross show of weakness to have your friends have to help you. Did anyone else have that sort of rule?

Jesus.

I adore "Rock of Love," but in light of the increasing amount of stories like this, the Heather-Daisy fight on the reunion show last night totally disgusts me.

Girl-on-girl violence with an eager, cheering audience = scary, scary shit.

Did this kind of voilence exist when we were in High School/Middle School? Because I certianly don't remember it happening. I remember girls fighting but it was over 'issues' and not some sort of perverse voyeurism.

@NefariousNewt: I was more concerned about parents protecting their children from becoming victims. As in, how do we teach insecure, eager-to-please-their-peers 12 year olds not to be lured off of school grounds into some parking lot? And I'm sure some of the girls involved in the beating were victims of peer pressure as well. I had amazing parents, who used all of the common sense you described, but when I was in middle school, I took up smoking, shoplifting, sneaking around and lying to my parents, all to impress my friends.

@ImTheBobblehead: So true. And if it were a man beating the crap out of a woman, you know VH1 would portray it in a whole different light.
Girl-on-girl violence is somehow still seen as sexy or entertaining in our fucked-up pop culture.

I am now officially frightened of little girls

@BeckySharper: I don't know about that. When the big drinking parties in the woods got broken up when I was in HS, kids who got PC'd were routinely suspended and/or kicked off sports teams.

@BeckySharper: Because everyone knows that after two girls fight the next step is that they will get naked and have sex and possibly invite the male spectators to join in.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

I may be ignorant to this, but do schools do anything to teach about internet responsibility? As in, what really happens when you put something up for everyone to see? How your ownership of an image is pretty much lost when you put it on a site? Seriously. I know it's sort of besides the point, but maybe if kids knew that doing this sort of thing is like the dumbest shit ever, maybe it could help deter them.

@BlondeGrlz: If she's a daughter of a cop, I certainly hope her dad will insist on pressing charges against these girls, especially since the school is doing nothing.

Even though the violence itself did not occur on school grounds, what if the luring did? Wouldn't that emotional bullying be enough to discipline these kids?

I agree with the sentiment expressed by a whole lot of you above. I can't stand watching Rock of Love and other cat fight shows (even ANTM is too much for me sometimes). I saw and experienced enough taunting by girls when I was in middle school. I have no desire to see anymore of it. It sets the bar pretty disgustingly low.

@AnderBobo: I was still into Barbies!

@BeckyIva: I get the impression that the parents of bullies are the "mah kidz are good kidz, you need to leave 'em be!!" kind of people.

I mean, where do these kids learn that anger and violence? I didn't grow up around that kind of thing and would have absolutely no idea how to hit or punch someone. Or defend myself for that matter. Bullies need to have CPS called on their behalf because things aren't good at home, I'm guessing.

@bananaballs: probably not, since the huge generation gap between teachers and students equates to 'new to the internet' and 'never knew anything else'

@bananaballs: if you need to explain to kids that when you record something and put it on you tube everyone will see it i think you should just go ahead and kill yourselves because the future is looking hella bleak.

We can blame the interweb all we want, but all the internet and video games and MTV does it just attract people who were already this close to bullying and other aggressive behaviors. And it all stems from the home. Sorry to say it, but this is a case of kids with too much unsupervised time on their hands and kids who are not comfortable confiding in their parents.

@Triphena: we had that same rule along with a rule that fights always took place after school on the county fairgrounds across the street (to be off of school property). The weird thing is these "rules" only applied to the guys, the girl fights just about always involved friends and took place mainly in the cafeteria.

@Triphena: That's what I'm thinking. Wild parties and getting busted had reprecussions at my school. Why is this school different?

@ImTheBobblehead: I really felt for Daisy last night, since the fight was totally unprevocked and no one seemed to want to step in.

@Triphena: Sports teams are a little different because they're extracurricular, and the coaches have a lot of leeway when it comes to who's on the team or not. But a school system can't kick a kid out of school just because they learn that a kid did something bad in their off-hours.

They can, however, suspend a kid from school if they're under criminal investigation. Once the police are involved, it's a whole different ballgame, which is why parents should always report violent bullying/sexual harrassment to the police if they want the school to act.

(the reason I know too much about this: my mother was an elementary school principal for 15 years and is now a school superintendant. And she always calls the police herself and reports problems when she needs the authority to suspend trouble-makers.)

@Muffyn: Try teaching non-violence in a world of Jerry Springer, Ultimate Fighting, NFL Football, and Jackass. The thing that makes our country great (freedom of expression) is also the thing that dooms us to destruction unless we as parents take charge and teach our children their civil and social responsibilities. Unfortunately, we're letting the media raise out children.

This is not a new phenomenon. Have you heard of Reena Virk? She was murdered by bullies.

[en.wikipedia.org]

@ineffable.me: ZOMG, you're right! And how awesome would it be if the same was true of men? Like if Daniel Craig and Gerard Butler were having a fight, and then all the sudden they began kissing and then I had to get in the middle...

@ineffable.me: Yeah, but I think in this case, it could be good for those kids who are slow on the uptake. I mean, all kids do things they may regret later, it would really suck to take some pictures (even, um, nonviolent ones) and have them haunt you 10 years later, still.

@gold_gato: I'm secretly STILL into Barbies

@functional_alcoholic: There was a time when teenage boys or girls could actually duke it out in a fair fight. I mixed it up with my share of bullies.

But a short couple of years after I graduated HS, a friend's little sister had a disagreement over a boy with one of her classmates. The other girl rounded up a posse and beat her to the point where she had to be hospitalized.

Now they are videotaping their criminal behavior and posting it for the world to see?

Unbelievable.

Talk about bullying...when I was 12 a bully set my hair on fire while we were riding home on the school bus. Another time, a firend of mine and I were riding home on our bikes when a group of oder teens stopped us and started hitting my best friend in the head...in a neighbourhood full of people!

All I can really say is, this is about 20 miles from my hometown, and I'm not surprised. Google "shanda sherer" and you'll know why.

Sure wish kids could be original but they aren't. If people were doing forced bikini waxing they'd do that too. Remember the days when posting stuff on the internet meant you were a nerd?

@BeckyIva: You have to teach your child to be instinctively distrustful until they can verify that something is what it is. The problem as I see it is that our natural survival reactions are being dulled by a life of comfort and leisure. When mankind was fighting for survival, you couldn't afford to be unaware of your surroundings. Now, children are not being taught to be wary and to top it off, their natural instinct for caution is not being nurtured. Result: kids disappearing. Kids doing drugs. Kids getting into situations that their instincts might have kept them out of.

That's why I think it's important to take kids into nature. I grew up in Vermont and spent an awful lot of time roaming the forest, learning to be cautious and careful, learning to be observant of the signs of danger or imminent changes in my environment that could cause trouble. While not every child can be exposed to that kind of environment, it's important for parents to teach their kids the same kind of lessons in any setting.

I think teaching kids their actions have consequences is a positive thing. To pick a topical example, if you didn't think your actions had consequences, why would you vote?