My wife watches the Today show every morning before we head to work. If you happen to do the same, you know that one of the featured stories “today” examined the beating of a girl by 6 acquaintances in Florida. The beating was supposedly in retaliation for comments made by the victim on MySpace. The beating was also taped so the perpetrators could use it later to further humiliate the victim.
This incident will likely generate a great deal of media attention. I am concerned with the “spin” that may be attached.
The Sheriff investigating the case was quoted in the Today show online summary saying:
“Our goal is not only to deal with this issue, but to try to educate parents across the state and across the nation that this is what your children are watching,” he said. “This is what some children are participating in. And we as a society have got to say, ‘This has to stop,’ because if we desensitize our children to this today, then what’s next tomorrow?”
Today does include a segment from the beating for viewing. It is shocking and potentially could encourage parents, educators, and law enforcement personnel to take bullying more seriously. Actually, I am not certain who must be convinced this is a problem. I am concerned that the video also serves as a positive example for misguided adolescents. Somehow recording the bullying of peers has become cool. How do you change such a perception? Certainly not by filtering and pretending it does not exist.
