Bullying, is YouTube or MySpace to blame?
The major media attention being paid to the videotaped beating of Victoria Lindsay is, as usual, putting a lot of attention on YouTube and MySpace.
From a recent NY Times article on the prosecution of the 8 kids who were indicted in the beating:
“For whatever reason, this MySpace, my-you, this YouTube has gone too far,” said Talisa Lindsay, in an interview outside their home. “It’s just too much.”
Her husband, Patrick, who stood beside her, went even further, declaring that Internet companies were to blame for what happened.
“As far as I’m concerned,” he said, “MySpace is the Antichrist for children.”
Much as my heart goes out to Ms. Lindsay and her parents, YouTube and MySpace are not to blame here. It’s pretty obvious to me that none of these kids was adequately supervised, including Ms. Lindsay. And the kids who did the beating were obviously never taught empathy nor compassion for others.
40 years ago TV was to blame. Kids watched Tom and Jerry and learned that it was okay to beat each other up from a cartoon cat, or at least that’s what the newspapers said during similar incidents of the time. 80 years ago I imagine that some people blamed radio shows for kids acting out. We know there were bullies then since Popeye the Sailor Man was born as a radio show in the 1930’s and he had to deal with bully Bluto repeatedly. But at least in that radio show, kids were given a role model in Popeye. Who are their role models now? 2 Pistols? Britney?
Parents need to look at themselves and see if they are indeed spending the necessary time with their kids, and instilling in them proper values and respect for others. But it’s not only the parents. In a society that tears extended families apart, who is supervising the kids when both parents work?
When are we, as a society, going to take responsibility for our own offspring? When are we, as a society, going to take responsibility for what globalization, Big Media, and the Corporate Culture has done to our kids and families?
