Social network sites not to blame

High school student Victoria Lindsay was brutally beaten March 30 in Lakeland, Fla., by six other girls. They attacked her when she entered the home of her supposed friend Mercades Nichols.

The fight stemmed from “trash-talking” occurring between the girls on the girls’ MySpace pages.

Videos of the beating can be found all over the Internet right now.

The six girls involved in the beating are all being tried as adults. They range in age from 14 to 17. The girls took turns beating Lindsay and holding the camera to capture the event on tape. Two males also are are being tried as adults, at age 17 and 18, who stood watch right outside the house.

Perhaps the most shocking thing that happened was that after beating Lindsay unconscious, the girls brutalized her again when she awoke.

The parents of the victim are placing the blame not only on the girls involved, but also on the social networking sites YouTube and MySpace for promoting such actions.

Shouldn’t the blame be placed on the shoulders of the attackers?

Or, maybe the blame should be placed on the shoulders of the parents of the attackers, for evidently failing to teach their children fighting is not the answer?

In a video interview on YouTube, the parents of the victim argued that mass media’s inability to filter such videos is the reason these kinds of attacks happen.

YouTube has a “flagging” ability, which users can click to indicate the video is in violation of terms of use.

Hemanshu Nigam, chief officer for MySpace, said the company reviews every image and video that is hosted on the site and removes them if they violate terms of use, whether they are flagged or not.

MySpace and YouTube are not at fault for the action of the attackers.

Since video recording devices have been around, many have placed the blame on such devices for crimes, including fights.

The manufacturer’s intensions, when creating these recording devices, was not to promote violence.

The mind behind the machine is to blame.

In the Lindsay case, the attackers probably didn’t think they would be tried as adults, considering their youth.

Everyone who performs acts of violence and videotapes them knows that it is the wrong thing to do.

But, hey, 15 minutes of online fame is well worth the possibility of life in jail. Right?

—Stephen Sossamon
Staff Writer