But can we say we are really shocked? Or are we just so sick of the election, we must focus on one instance of something that has been happening for years, making it sound like it is a new phenomenon?
Let's think about this a second. Does anyone believe that there's anything new about an ambushing of someone for the specific purpose of causing harm to another, save for use of the video camera for the purpose of posting it on the internet? Even at this, since teenagers have discovered some pretty gross misuses for You Tube and My Space, they have been pulling these kinds of stunts as a game or a means or gaining notoriety.
But as you may surmise, the media is just now catching up this and they are now asking why this could have happened?
There are still many unanswered questions about the case in which sheriff's officials say six teen girls filmed a brutal, profanity-ridden beating of a 16-year-old schoolmate while threatening to post the video on MySpace and YouTube.
Why would something like this happen? Anger? Jealousy? Peer pressure?
How could "trash-talking" on MySpace, as Sheriff Grady Judd has described what preceded the events, lead to such violence?
The article makes some valid points about the many reasons, but the most poignant of them all is:
Parents and teachers must dive into the depths of cyberspace, learn more about the Web sites their kids are using, and teach them to have empathy for others, as well as themselves, he said.
So out of seemingly nowhere, after a "shocking" video gets much national attention, we have the media suggesting that parents ask themselves: What are the kids are doing online? Brilliant world we live in when we have become reactive, instead of proactive.
The victim in this beating up was apparently no angel, herself. This comes per her father. According to him, she has had her share of problems with anger to include some physical scuffles with her mother in the past. The girls that perpetrated this crime have also accused her of posting insults of them on My Space, but that is being denied by the victim's family. They are alleging that her My Space was hacked into.
Whatever the case, if she did write those things, it still doesn't excuse the girls that were seen committing this crime. They bear a large portion or the responsibility here. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never harm me is a little saying that needs to be reinforced here. No amount of name-calling is worthy of this kind of response.
But in the interim, here's a noble thought to ponder. If the parents had known what their kids (all of them, to include the victim) were doing, just maybe this would have never happened. If they would have been more involved in their lives, this may have been averted. This is not a judgmental statement here, it's just the truth.
Now that it has happened, what will the responses of the parents be?
Some may assume defensive postures. My kid doesn't deserve this, the girl provoked it, may very well be their response. And they'll make excuses like this until the day they die.
Others may say, the girls were wrong, BUT, the girl shouldn't have posted the insults in the first place.
I seriously doubt many (if any) of them will look inward to see, how THEY could played an integral part in preventing something like this from happening? Maybe they couldn't have, who knows? But their reactions (as they become known) will tell us the real story.
I know one thing in all of this, these girls and boys that had any part in this premeditated scheme should be inherently glad that I am not their parent. Because life as they know it would end for a long time, after they serve the terms of their sentence. And you can rest damned assured I wouldn't be defending their actions. Instead, I would be counseling them on how to adapt to life in jail.
In addition, I would use this as a teaching moment to reinforce some things. I have often told my kids (and still do), a great part of your reputation is built on the foundation of the type of company you keep and if you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas. They may have a lot of time to think about this little principle, while they stare at the four walls they will soon call home.
Today, we live in a society that seeks to justify its actions, by blaming everyone else but ourselves for misfortunes and unintended consequences. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming weeks and months. But the question that we may never learn the answer to is, how many parents will use this as a wake-up call? My guess is, not enough.
2 comments:
I realize that commenting here is much like preaching to the choir . . . so I should only say that I agree with your conclusions. We have lowered the bar so much in the US that almost anyone can reach our new “low standard” for behavior. We realize that poor behavior is not a new phenomenon . . . we’ve had prisons in this country almost from the beginning. Every society has its deviants, but considering the country’s high prison population, one has to wonder if we aren’t getting worse, instead of better.
Some will argue that we do not accept such behavior; the justice system will punish these punks for their act; but are we really punishing abhorrent conduct? Consider that some people go to jail, and when released are actually more evil than when they went to prison. Consider that crime is as rampant inside the prison system as it is on the outside. Consider the rate of recidivism in this country, and compare that to countries such as Japan, where hardly anyone ever goes back to prison. If our prisons intend to punish untoward behavior, it doesn’t. If prison aims to rehabilitate, it isn’t doing that, either.
The problem is that once convicted of a serious crime, people become little more than a number in the judicial system. Once inside, government expects them to fend for themselves and the only government interest is to keep them captive and provide three meals a day. No one is getting psychiatric treatment. Of course, the Muslim Brotherhood is please to provide “religious services.” When combined with last-rate parenting, it is no wonder that our society is plagued with crime. Our society may have become tolerant, but it is not a coincidence that it is also crime infested.
//No one is getting psychiatric treatment.//
Sure they are.
They get pills, which they cheek at med pass times in order to get back to the dorms and cells, so they can sell them for something of value. Cigarettes, pot, etc.
Then, if that's not enough to sell you, they get psychiatrists and counselors that usually cannot make it in the private sector because they are themselves in need of some help.
Pills, quacks, what else do you want Mustang? Are you implying that real rehabilitation is a realistic goal in today's penal institutions?
Seriously, the only ones that ever got rehabilitated are those precious fractional few that decide they actually WANTED to straighten out their lives.
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