Nope, this is not a post about Iraq, or even about King Georgie. It’s about 8 kids my age who don’t have the sense God gave a turnip! According to the L.A. Times,
Eight teenagers have been arrested on charges alleging they beat another teen in an “animalistic attack” so they could make a videotape to post on YouTube.
Seven of them remained in juvenile detention today, authorities said. A boy who was charged as an adult had been released on bail.
That’s right. They weren’t angry at her. She hadn’t stolen the boy they wanted to date or told a teacher they were cheating. They just wanted to make a video! So eight of them beat her up, then kidnapped her, then threatened her with a worse beating if she went to the police.
When my friend Hazel got a camera that shoots video (when we were 13), we made videos of each other singing stupid songs or pretending to kiss a boy we both liked. We never even put it up on youtube!
The Times also says that
The sheriff’s office said that after the attack, three of the teens forced the victim into a vehicle and drove her to another location, where she was told she would be given a worse beating if she contacted police.
All eight suspects were arrested April 2 and charged with battery and false imprisonment. The three teens who took Lindsay to the second location are also charged with felony kidnapping.
Lindsay was treated for a concussion, damage to her left eye and left ear, and numerous bruises, police said.
April 8, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Horrid people.
This is what happens when the thread of violence in woven throughout the culture. And people really cannot tell the difference between life and “movies”.
April 8, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Cassie, congratulations on your summer scholarship. I’m so happy for you!
April 8, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Good post Cassie. Have to wonder what will become of young people so far lost. What do *you* think the courts should do with them?
Congrats on the summer program. It’s bound to be a marvelous experience.
April 9, 2008 at 12:15 am
Bravo Cassie! My, how cheerleaders have fallen, eh? What gets to me is the calculated brutality of it all. I can understand a spontaneous outburst of rage over a wrong or a perceived wrong. I can understand the necessity of physical response to an attack. What I simply can’t understand is the calculated beat down those girls gave that one girl, simply to have something to post to the Internets! The victim may still lose the sight in her left eye and hearing in her left ear. I give up, even the most vicious chimps seldom exhibit this kind of calculated, organized brutality.
April 9, 2008 at 12:42 am
Filming the crime and posting it on a public forum? That’s public education for you.
April 9, 2008 at 2:17 am
I am speachless… this is unbelievable!!!
when they posted this… did they not for once think that they might get in trouble for it…?!!
April 9, 2008 at 6:31 am
I’m with Samuel on this one (minus the jab to public education ^!^).
Nevermind violent (criminal) behavior. Why would anyone film themselves engaging in such actions and put it on the internet for all to see? And it’s not just beating someone up. Do a search on “pranks” and one will eventually get to see a variety of people defacing property and doing things that, if not against some kind of rule, than is just senselessly inconsiderate.
Not that I would condone filming and uploading violent behavior if the perpetrators wore disguises, but … I don’t know… one could say, “At least they didn’t reveal their identities.”
I’d almost find some entertainment value in this news item if it were a prank. Or a failed attempt to make a non-snuff video.
April 13, 2008 at 1:23 pm
There is so much discussion that I have encountered in which people blame You Tube, My Space, or MTV as causing such behavior. NO! It’s the perps themselves who make the decisions to do these things. It is THERE where the accountability lies.
I had understood that it was a revenge beating for something that the girl had put on My Space. For these young people to do it purely for kicks makes it even more tragic.