news article 9

A group of teenagers who videotaped a beating of a fellow teenage girl were arrested in Lakeland Florida last week. The father of the victim is blaming the internet in general for the beating of his daughter because of the popularity of youtube videos about fighting and beatings that lure kids today. What is disturbing is that one of the teens was heard saying “make it good”, meaning they wanted the video to be something that would be good to watch on the internet and would get lots of attention. The internet is putting a spotlight on lots of illegal activities as far as videos on youtube go because children can access the site and watch gruesome fights and even see people being killed and they feel that there is nothing wrong with this behavior. I would have to agree with the father of the victim as he feels the internet is to blame because of its appeal to teens and the desire to see videos of brutality. However, it is the fault of those who put these videos on the internet not the websites themselves. Youtube could edit and not allow such videos but then it would lose its popularity. This is just another situation where there are lines of what is right and acceptable and what should not be allowed on the internet. Seeing young teens making videos of brutality is disturbing, however our society is entertained by such things and there is no easy way to edit material being put on the internet today.