The Victoria Lindsay Beating: Preventing Teenagers from Committing Violence
A Parent's Perspective
And it was all videotaped to be uploaded and shown on YouTube.
All eight, six girls and two boys, allegedly involved have been arrested and charged with felony battery and false imprisonment. Authorities believe the two boys were used as lookouts while the girls punched, slapped and kicked Lindsay to the point of unconsciousness, even slamming her head into the wall. The three who drove her to another friend's house have been charged with felony kidnapping as well. Prosecutors say they are going to attempt trying the teens as adults.
The girls were cheerleaders.
One of them was 14.
All of them were former friends.
Sheriff Grady Judd called it "animalistic behavior," according to various media reports. "It's pack mentality. They lured her there to beat her," he stated.
The video was confiscated as evidence.
So how does a parent prevent their own teenagers from becoming involved in this type of behavior?
First of all, parents have got to instill within their children the idea that it is inherently wrong to forcefully lay hands upon another person. There is often a pervading attitude that hitting or slapping someone is alright, even acceptable under certain circumstances. Unless it is in self-defense, laying one's hands upon another individual is never right.
Second, parents need to teach their chidlren coping mechanisms. When things affect a person adversely, instigating violent acts or retaliating for perceived or true verbal attacks should be cautioned against. There are several coping strategies that might keep teenagers from physical violence. Thinking a matter through before acting and walking away from the incident are just two of them.
A third way to help prevent teenage violence is to talk to your children. Heading these types of things off before they become explosive and potentially deadly situations is optimal. Plans such as the one that developed in Lakeland take time and do not just happen, which means that parents probably missed a few cues here and there. Of course, with parents such as Christina Garcia, who says that Victoria Lindsay was partially to blame for writing and posting those internet messages, the cues actually may not only be ignored but encouraged.
Monitoring internet traffic, both incoming and outgoing, where our teens are involved, not to mention phone calls and text messages would go a long way toward preventing these incidents as well. Knowing what your children talk about and do are important preventive measures.
And then there is simply not allowing your teens to remain unattended. For some households this is difficult to do, but it is a necessary preventive. Find ways to check up on your children, drop them off with relatives, have neighbors watch them. But try to leave them alone as little as is possible.
Teenagers can get into all kinds of trouble if left to their own devices. If given a motive like revenge, they can resort to actions that can not only cause physical damage but legal problems as well. Making sure our teens are not given an opportunity to ruin their own lives is part of parental responsibility.
Source:
Jonathan Parker Walton and Susan Jacobson, "Teenage girl recovering from beating," ChicagoTribune.com
Published by Saul Relative
WVU graduate, with degrees in History, English, Secondary Education, Computer Programming, and Psychology (and nearly a degree in Political Science). Originally from West Virginia, with stints in Virginia,... View profile
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33 Comments
Post a Commentnow this is getting annoying. everyone says that myspace and youtube are messing up teens lives, youtube is a website where you have a CHOICE to post videos, you dont have to post it so its really the teens fault. And myspace is the same, you dont have to post vids on there and ppl accepting friend requests from ppl they dont know. Its not the websites fault.
Law enforcement lied - if you look at the sworn statements from the victim and her ride, it is clear that 1) they did NOT "lure" her into the house, they in fact kicked her out and she was let back in only because her ride insisted on it 2) Two of the girls never hit her 3) it was all impromptu, not planned 4) there is NO evidence against the "lookouts". Tori was probably NEVER unconscious and the girls probably never even realized she suffered a concussion. The new video directly contradicts the "knocked out" allegations. The media will NOT tell you the truth about any of this.
The supposed lack of remorse is also bull, 3 of the girls apologized soon after the beating and Kayla cried every night in jail. And they have not been allowed by the judge to even publicly apologize (not to mention tell the truth about what happened).Yes the girls have done something very wrong, but it boils down to a *misdemeanor* battery. Now some of them they may get killed because of of it.
hi all i can say is thank god i live in australia i heard all about the kids but what abbout the parents of these kids stepping to take responsability for there childrens actions these kids need to be punished to the full extent of the law my god it makes you wonder what sort of home life that these children have....... i think the parents should in soem way take responsibilty to im a mother of two children my self and respect satrts at home i think my heart goes out to lindsay and her family and to her attackers you make me physically sick.....
I totally agree, Willie...
You can't dictate generalized parenting, Amanda, just because of some wayward kids. We don't know if everyone involved in this episode isn't from a two-parent home. Don't be too quick to judge. But I like the caning Idea.
They should be tried and treated as adults and prosecuted to the fullest extent!
Anyone who defends these girls needs beating too. Remember the boy in Singapore who got whipped with a cane? The same needs to happen here and save taxpayers money but the lawyers want their cut. Bring back old fashioned discipline and two-parent homes. Where are their fathers?
Unfortunately, yoyo, acts such as this one tend to spark the nurture/nature debate all over again, if only to give the little barbarians a way out. Of course its their nature. Of course its their environment. But the deciding factor falls on those who perpetrated this act: they made the choice to do a greivous wrong...
Wry: I'm in total agreement with you comment. Parental abdication of responsibility has led us to this point; it is high time that parental responsibility be assumed once again...
Dolly, too much, annonymous: It seems that it has gotten to the point to question whether something so intrinsically ethically WRONG as this act is in fact wrong. Heaven help us all...