So Many Questions…
I don’t like watching the news. I find it repetitive and mostly negative.
Well, I tuned in the last couple of nights only to learn about these kids who are swarming other kids, businesses, and even the police. The ages vary from 13 to 18 years old. This seems to be the flavor of the month, so to speak.
Okay. A couple of questions. First the obvious one …. Where the Hell are the Parents? Can we blame parents? Why are 13 and 14 year olds traveling from the suburbs to the different parts of the city to do this?
I would say, believe it or not, most parents have no idea what their kids are doing. They like to think they do, but with social media and the instant decisions made, you can end up with good kids being sucked into the mob mentality of violence, blind ignorance, and an event that could haunt them forever.
The attack on the news was all about a girl being lured by a supposed “friend” and then swarmed, beaten, and made to kiss her attacker’s shoes. This is not only degrading and disgusting, but sociopathic.
Remember, these kids doing the swarming aren’t acting out of mental illness or tendencies for which they can’t control. These are your everyday grade seven and eight students, surrounding someone who is down on the ground and joining the kicking, spitting, and punching.
There are a few things to think of here.
First and foremost, how are you defining “friend”? A friend doesn’t beat you or make you feel like shit because of a disagreement or opposing views. A friend is someone who stands by your side and is an equal. Read this account of friends that I wrote a while ago. This whole question of friendship is not new.
Does anyone remember Reena Virk? In 1997, she was a 14 year old girl, murdered by a group of “friends” who swarmed her under a bridge and then took her in the river and held her under water. Read more HERE.
The entire country was shocked and horrified, but really it was only the beginning.
Do any of you remember the young boy Carson Crimeni? He was around 14 too, when a bunch of “friends” fed him drugs and then videotaped the aftermath. This was so heart-breaking, but it’s still going on.
Social media is a huge contributor.
The kids are apparently being called out on social media to meet at a particular place and it escalates from there. It could be anyone.
And let me tell you, they’re not using facebook and Instagram. They’re using platforms that we’ve never heard of. New ones pop up all the time and get popular with different age groups. They’re not going to hang where you are.
So now, we have a world in which the elderly are afraid to walk in their own neighborhoods, the store-keepers are being hit and having to face destruction of property and theft… The whole thing makes me sick.
What do you do? I don’t have the answers but I do know that we need to get back to some sort of community building.
Too many people simply no longer care about neighborhoods and the people who call them home.
There needs to be consequences for these kids over and above the tongue lashing they receive from the justice system. It needs to be stronger. The reality in the destruction of invincibility needs to be reset.
Again, so many of these kids are so young, their brains aren’t even fully developed. But there is conscious. I know there is. We just need to find it.
These kids are posting live videos on social media for all to see. They instill fear, humiliate others, and make the nightly news. It’s awful.
It’s going to take dealing with one kid at a time. If you’re a parent, care-giver, or auntie, know where the kids are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing. Be involved as much as possible.
With all of those kids I want to ask them why they go to these swarmings? Does it make them feel powerful? Why do they choose to participate in behavior that could cause death–even their own? I want to ask them why…
What is so wrong in your world that you have to wreak havoc in someone else’s? Is it fun? Do you feel any remorse?
Do you understand that this is the behavior of a cowardly weak individual who can’t help but follow the crowd? You have no independent strength or convictions, otherwise you’d leave the situation. You’d call for help. You wouldn’t answer the call of a stranger to gang up on someone.
Oh, I tell ya… I’m at a loss at what to think. Please tell me your thoughts in the comments. What needs to happen here?
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I’m with you…this is appalling, shocking and horrific. Something is so wrong with our world that this behaviour would even come to mind. We are all fed a daily dose of violence in one way or another. I have my own theory that to date has not had a lot of traction, but madness arises from fear, ineffectuality, loss, and horizontal gene migration. I believe our brains are being re-wired.
Hi Dianne! How interesting. I certainly believe that fear and loss have social affects and while idk about genes, I do know that the electronics and all the communication devices have ill affects on the brain and thinking. The scary thing is what do you do about it? Can the damage be undone? Will we be thrown back into the dark ages as electrical impulses cease to exist after some moron sets off a bomb? It feels like the things of sci-fi but it’s not.
How could anyone forget Reena.
Forget the young offenders act. These kids should be showing on the news face by face so people could see who they are and avoid them like the plague. I don’t believe in shaming people but this is just too dreadful.
I shouldn’t have said what I said but this is so Disturbing. Can you imagine if it was your child that suffered through this horrible act.
And who could forget Reena. It’s hard to believe that this is on the uprise.
Hi Heather. I hear you. It’s a very emotionally charged issue. When Reena Dirk was murdered the entire country was shocked, but now with this swarming crap, it seems to happening more and more without recourse. As someone who worked in the Canadian criminal justice system for over 20 years, I know a lot of these kids are just that… kids. They’re eager to follow and fit in… but there’s also someone more brazen, more psycho, and always pushing the limits….that’s what scares me. These kids KNOW the difference between right and wrong and need to have permission to walk away. Call 911. Don’t stream it. Too many are apologizing after the fact….when they know. Old saying…better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. Terrible.