Well, it looks like students in the States are picking up on a trend that is likely going on world wide: bullying in the social networked age can involve humiliation on a global scale.
In North Babylon, New York, one teenage girl was arguing about a boy with another girl. She thought they were going to meet to discuss the issue; little did she know that the second girl had brought two other friends. One to help beat her up, and the other to video tape the whole incident.
It was then, apparently, uploaded to YouTube, MySpace and the ubiquitous Photobucket for the world to see.
Whereas bullies of yore would be content with allowing their reputation and their humiliating acts to spread by word of mouth, bullies in this day and age are using social networking tools to spread the word. In fact, the term “hopping” someone, where one beats down, then video tapes, then uploads to the web, has become a more and more common occurance.
The three girls were later identified, charged, and suspended from school. Which, I suppose, is the only good thing about publicizing the “beat down” — bullies are probably too quick to prove how dominant they are without thinking that their actual faces are also publicized around the world.
For a full breakdown of the story, head over to ABC affiliate 49abcnews.com.
