Comments on The General Blog of Crime: Teenage Girls, Physical Violence, YouTube, and our...

Hmmm... I disagree with HnK on this one. I really...

2008-04-12T13:50:00.000-04:00

Hmmm... I disagree with HnK on this one. I really believe that if these were boys we would still here the rhetoric of the possibility of life sentences. I find it really hard to believe that they are being treated differently (both by the media and by the courts - at least so far) because they are girls. Clearly that makes it more shocking for some, but I doubt they will get a harsher sentence because of their gender.
It will be interesting to see the punishment they actually get. They will not get life in prison. Believe me - I just don't see that happening.

Whoops -- here's the link:Suspects in Video Beatin...

2008-04-11T08:21:00.000-04:00

Whoops -- here's the link:

Suspects in Video Beating Could Get Life in Prison

This is unbelievable:"Suspects in Video Beating Co...

2008-04-11T08:18:00.000-04:00

This is unbelievable:

"Suspects in Video Beating Could Get Life in Prison"

Life in prison?! Come on.

Don't tell me that sex/gender doesn't come into play here. Can you imagine a group of teen boys facing a life sentence for this same scenario? I don't think so. No matter how "animalistic" the attack was -- and I'm not suggesting it wasn't horrific, because it was -- this type of behavior isn't an affront to established sex/gender roles when it is perpetrated by boys. But when girls do it, it's potentially worth a life sentence? I don't even know what to say. Of course I understand that the suspects are facing felony kidnapping charges, but the whole "they could get life behind bars!" thing reeks of: (a) overly-zealous punishment in an effort to make an example of these girls, and (b) a reaction more to their non-conformity to traditional gender roles with respect to violent behavior. I agree that the fact that they videotaped the beating adds a whole additional level of depravity to the whole thing....but a life sentence? That's just absurd.

Excellent questions, Pap. Thanks for posting this...

2008-04-11T07:58:00.000-04:00

Excellent questions, Pap. Thanks for posting this.

Did you all hear that the girls are set to be tried as adults?

This episode makes me even more anxious for our piece on teen girls and online victimization to come out....something tells me there will be sustained media and public interest in teen girls' use of technology and violence over the coming months...

On point 7, if you download Real Player I believe ...

2008-04-11T06:14:00.000-04:00

On point 7, if you download Real Player I believe there is a way to save many videos you view online. I went through this during the winter when trying to archive copies of stuff I needed for some of the road shows I've been doing. When I followed your link to the video they start to play and a "download to Real Player" icon appears by the video window.

On the other points...are "these kids today" more violent, deviant, stupid, cruel, etc., based on this or anything else? Are they more fill-in-the-blank or is such conduct more evident and easily shared with the world? Is this new/expanding conduct, or simply technology that archives the conduct youth have engaged in for years?

Performing to the camera...you bet. That's the point of recording. But they are still teenagers, impulsive, and stupid, so they somehow think the only one's to see their "brilliant" revenge will be friends, not parents, cops, school officials, or the entire western hemisphere.

Dunno how you can put the parents at fault short of evidence one had prior knowledge.