MySpace is the anti-christ?
High school is brutal. No where does that seem more true at the moment, then in Lakeland, Florida, a town that has become a media hot spot recently due to the brutal attack of a high school girl by six cheerleaders. Why has this story gained such a huge array of media attention? It’s not because of the incident itself, although it was vicious, cruel and pre-meditated. It’s not because the victim was an honor student and her abusers were blonde haired, blue eyed cheerleaders. The reason this story is worse than the countless others that are reported every day is because the attackers primary motivation for video taping the incident was so they could upload the video to MySpace and YouTube.
In the days since this heinous story came to light, a lot of media shows have been concentrating primarily on that fact. I even heard MySpace referred to as the “anti-christ of this generation.” Call me crazy, but if six teenage girls and two teenage boys (they were standing guard outside to make sure no one caught on to what was going on inside) have no qualms about tricking a fellow teenager into coming over to their house, ganging up on her and beating her until she’s unconscious, waiting until she comes to and then beating her some more, leaving her with a concussion, partial loss of hearing in one ear and partial loss of sight in one eye, I think there are some people a little closer to home that need to be taking the blame.
Not only did these teens commit these horrible acts, they also showed no remorse and no concept of how severe their actions were. One girl was quoted as asking police officers if they would be out of lock-up in time to go to cheer leading practice. Obviously the parents of these kids need to step up to the plate and take on a little responsibility. I’m pretty sure it must take years of parental inaction for children to reach this level of selfishness and cruelty. Let’s put the blame where it is deserved, on these children, who have no respect for human decency and on the parents and families who created them.
April 15th, 2008 at 10:02 am
There seems to be a lot of senseless acts being done by our young people lately. Is it time to change the juvenile laws?
April 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I don’t know if the problem is juvenile laws or just that people seem to be taking less and less responsibility for their actions. Adults and kids alike.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Why do we have such horrible incidents like Columbine? Because bullies aren’t dealt with until it’s too late. The ones involved in this incident should be charged as adults to let them (and others) know that this type of behavior is criminal. we as a society like to blame others for children’s behavior. They fail in school because of in adequate teaching, not because the kids didn’t do the work. Kids act out violently because of their upbringing, and the parents are blamed. hold the kids responsible and maybe this kid of thing will lesson.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
It’s scary because this kinda stuff happens all the time in the NHS. My kids have been there. That’s why I’ve been saying that we need to do more, and have a ZERO tolerance bullying policy and stick to it. When my kids have a problem like this, I pretty much get the ol kids will be kids speech. That’s exactly why columbine happened. Maybe this kinda story will open the principals of the middle and high schooll’s eyes.
April 15th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
This is definitely a problem with the parents, as evidenced by the reaction of the mother of one of the cheerleaders. She said the girl who got the beating “had it coming to her” because she posted some “not so nice things” about the others on MySpace.
On a different note, why does Dr. Phil feel the need to get involved and bail one of the girls out of jail?
April 19th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
In addition to legal charges the cheerleaders should be dropped from their squad for bad conduct. The parents should be questioned for no supervision. While it is a fact of life theese days that both parents must work there still needs to be supervision. That girl will never be over her beating emotionally and possibly never trust anyone again. Forcing our youth to be resposible for their actions will only set a better example for the upcoming generations.
April 27th, 2008 at 8:37 am
I agree with all of you guys.. The kids should be held responsible.
The social network sites can be a good place for people of all ages to connect with one another, but some has used it for the wrong reasons.
I just started a social network and hopefully it will remain clean..lol
May 5th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Why is it that parents are not allowed to kick a brats !@# when they need it.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:33 am
My gripe is with one of the comments you made in your article, Jessica. At the very end, you said “Let’s put the blame where it is deserved, on these children, who have no respect for human decency, and on the parents and families who created them”. Well the first half of your sentence is definitely correct but to incorporate the parents & families–as a whole–and a cause for their kids actions, is really unfair. Do not make statements that you can not back up with 100% truth. It is not fair. Even if it is true in some cases, you can not make it an absolute for everyone and every situation.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Sorry Krista, but this isn’t an article, it’s a blog, which means it’s based on my opinions. So maybe parents aren’t always responsible for the actions of their children, but I believe there is generally a direct relationship between the behavior of a child and the way they were raised. In some instances, I’m sure a child can have a perfect childhood and still grow up to have less than perfect morals, but I think in most cases the actions of a parent can make all the difference in the world.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Let’s get them back to church. We need to fix the moral fiber of the kids and adults! Parents can discipline kids they just need to be reasonable and consistent. Parents are so afraid to discipline because they may not be friends with their kids. You have to take authority. Kids need structure in their lives. I think giving all the freedoms they hvae now has not worked out too well. We are seeing it proven everyday. Thanks.
May 20th, 2008 at 5:00 am
Being the victim of bullying and ‘gangbanging’ myself I can sympathize with the people referring to YouTube and its ilk as ‘the Antichrist’. But let’s put blame where blame is due- on the kids. Kids are by definition mean, uncaring, vicious, use your own adjective. While in school in the ’80s I was shoved in lockers, pushed down flights of stairs, had my hand slashed with a box cutter, all while the principal turned a blind eye. Why? Because the perpetrators were jocks. I now suffer from PTSD, claustrophobia and acrophobia. Thanks a lot, Class of 1984, for ruining my life.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:09 am
Your editorial on the Holocaust was well written. As a
Holocaust survivor I share your comments. I will gladly tell you about my personal experience during that period. Keep up the good work, Ken