YouTube Video of Bullying Incident Gets Students Arrested

Seven Pennsylvania students filmed themselves beating and attempting to hang another boy. They then posted the video on YouTube, and got more notoriety than they bargained for.

Six boys were identified from the video as students at Upper Darby High School and arrested for alleged kidnapping and assault as a result of the video. A seventh boy was later taken into custody.

Their victim, a 13-year-old fellow student named Nadin Khoury, said all he could do was wait for the beating to stop. The attack was estimated at 30 minutes long before a woman finally came to his rescue.

The YouTube video shows Nadin being beaten and then hanged by his coat on an iron fence.

The boy has been interviewed by multiple news outlets and supported by members of the Philadelphia Eagles football team as he appeared on "The View" on Feb. 3, as reported at Yahoo! Sports.

Gangs of bullies committing group acts like this is a form of "wolfpacking," Upper Darby police chief Michael Chitwood explained to Fox News' Philadelphia affiliate.

Although the incident happened on Jan. 11, the suspects' identities came to light around Feb. 1 as the video gained popularity on the Internet.

What is it saying that our young people want to film themselves in acts of violence?

These types of videos are showing up more often. Guest comments strewn across various web articles about this incident make several observances:

-We teach the kids they come from animals by evolution - so what keeps them from behaving as such?

-We tell kids it's OK to do whatever they feel like.

-They watch so much violence in video games and movies that they want to do it.

-We don't enforce the law strongly enough against juvenile offenders.

-Bullying isn't stopped because supervising adults aren't allowed to enforce discipline, and people are afraid to come forward.

Nadin isn't afraid to come forward. He says he will testify in court against the other students.

As of this date, according to Chitwood, the accused students will not be charged as adults. But they are lucky the hanging didn't result in the boy's extreme harm or even death.

Why was Khoury picked for a beating?

Nadin's family are immigrants from Liberia, but it isn't known if that is a reason he was chosen. Perhaps a response will come from the accused students during questioning.

Sources:

"Video: DeSean Jackson's emotional, surprise visit with bully victim," Chris Chase, Yahoo! Sports, 2/3/11.

"Teens arrested after posting YouTube video of beating 13-year-old boy and hanging him from a tree," Sean Alfano, NY Daily News, 2/1/11.

"Bullies' Teen Victim Talks To Fox 29," Fox News at myfoxphilly.com, 2/1/11.