On my soap box
Ok this is one of my posts where I am on my soap box-hence the name. This one is about the Florida/teen/cheerleader/myspace beating. A couple weeks ago Mick sent me a link to the clip of the teen beating. At first, not knowing what it was i watched with curiousity. After a few seconds I realized it was for real and it actually turned my stomach. I was horrified that they wouldn’t let the girl leave and they just kept hitting her. I didn’t want to finish watching the clip but I was frozen. I couldn’t stop. For the rest of the week I was obsessed with finding details and trying to make sense of something so absolutely insane. I thought that I had experienced the worst in watching that video clip but the events that followed shocked and horrified me even more.
The first being the girls motives to plan and carry out this beating just so they could post it on myspace BECAUSE the victim trashed talked them. When the girls were put in a holding cell they laughed and joked about not going to the beach during spring break. They showed no remorse.
Second, the ring leaders mom went on national tv justifying her daughters behavior. She said that people shouldn’t make threats on the internet if they can’t carry them out and that her daughter was being made out to be far worse than she was. It was also that day that her daughters myspace page was on the news with the headline ‘fuck yeah, I’d do it again’.
Next would have to be when the girls were in court and they interviewed a few of the parents. The girl in the pink sweats who did most of the beating- said that her daughter was ‘a good girl’. WHAT? A good girl doesn’t beat the hell out of another girl, block the door when she’s trying to leave, force her in a car then threaten her with a more severe beating if she tells.
Now I must say the next thing was just as bad if not worse than the actual beating. And that was that “dr.” Phil bailed out the ring leader after her crying grandma went on tv saying she didn’t have money to bail her grand daughter out. In my opinion she was RIGHT where she belonged. That idiot “dr” Phil THEN tried to blame a lower level employee for this decision. Please. I saw this “dr” on Oprah a long time ago and I never wasited another minute of my life watching his show, reading his books or even thinking about him. As far as I can see it, he is encouraging this to happen again. He is sending a message out to all those other ‘good’ teenagers that it’s ok to beat someone-it’s ok to use animalistic violence- it’s ok cause “dr” Phil will bail you out, give your mom money for ‘lost’ wages, buy you new clothes and pay your expenses. Thanks “dr” Phil, you just gaurenteed that not only will this happen again, but it will be worse.
The good news in all of this is that the judge doubled their bond. I doubt these girls (and two boys) will see time in jail. I want to see the silver lining in all of this but it’s really hard. My eldest son and I talked about it- he had seen the video. He said that someone posted it on YouTube saying ‘3 things you should never do.’ And those would be: beat someone up, film it, post it on the internet.
SO in conclusion, I’m saddened by this. It scares me as a mother of two boys embarking on their teen years. Life is so much more complicated then when I was their age. UGH!
Ok, so off my box.
I’m gonna finish watching Dancing With the Stars now.
T