Viotainment: Girls Beats Up Teacher, Students Cheer, Capture on Cell Phone Video
The world had not caught its collective breath from the recent cheerleader beating on YouTube when this shocking new story emerged of a Maryland public school student beating up her teacher while classmates cheered her on and gleefully captured the beating on cell phone! The teacher is so traumatized, she is unable to return to the classroom or the school.
I believe that this alarming trend is the natural outgrowth of the desensitization kids have had to violence over the years (violent video games, song lyrics, and movies), coupled with a perverted means of fulfilling the adolescent desires for identity, power, and excitement. Combined with the competition to ‘top this’ on social and national media, the ready means of reaching millions with your latest rendition - this trend could turn into a tragic epidemic.
It is essential that we respond to this sickening pastime with both legal consequences and preventive education. Beating someone up is not the way to become somebody. Knowing how to resolve conflicts, deal with your emotions, and rise above difficult circumstances is. As parents and as schools, we have to do a better job of preparing our kids for life. If the viotainment patterns continue, we will have a generation of sadistic, criminal adults - devoid of empathy and headed for destruction.
What do you think should be done about this disturbing phenomenon?
Dr. Bev
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