When I was in the UK last year, I was introduced to a relatively new term (at least for me), of "Happy Slapping." That's the term popularized in Europe for the sick trend of kids getting into fights, recording themselves with cellphone cameras, then uploading the video clips to YouTube and other video sites. You can check this out yourself, entering terms like "Girls Fighting", "Cat Fight" or "Happy Slapping" into the search field. Or you can take it from me, there are thousands of these videos.
And many new websites are devoted to this sort of video: http://www.knockoutdump.com/; http://www.schoolfightsdump.com/; oh there are many, many more to be sure.
While some of the videos are obviously staged and meant to be of the sexy women wrestling sort, most of the videos are of the Happy Slappy variety. These videos are rough, crude, with mostly high school aged kids (girls and boys) punching, slapping, wrestling with each other, often with a crowd of admiring onlookers. Some feature random acts of violence, showing kids running up to strangers at a bus stop or walking along the street and slapping or punching them, then running away laughing.
School yard fighting is nothing new, but this is a shocking trend that needs to be stopped. We're starting to see more of this phenomenon in the US, sadly. NPR just did a story on it. In Europe, media reports have fueled local school officials to officially ban Happy Slapping activities (grounds for expulsion and so forth), but this often just gives more publicity to the activity.
And law enforcement is getting involved, cracking down not only on the fighting activity but the "call to arms" texting and emails that often come first. The videos themselves are effective evidence and very helpful to law enforcement investigators. Today in Southern California, a video posted on MySpace has led to the arrest of two highschool girls on charges of conspiracy to commit battery.
Parents, we need to be vigilant about this sort of thing. I'm sure the kids who are involved in schoolyard fighting, whether the newly fashionable "Happy Slapping" sort or the old-fashioned "unrecorded" kind, lack engaged and loving parents,. For those of us who care about our children's health and well-being, as well as their futures and their reputations, let's make sure our peers are educated about this trend. We who do participate in our children's lives need to make sure our children know that fighting, whether pretend or real, is not entertainment. If they find themselves invited to watch or participate in a fight, they need to report it to you, to the school or public authorities. If a fight breaks out and they are nearby, their role is not to stand and watch, they need to leave the scene and report it. At minimum, they need to get the heck out of there! You don't want your child's face to be featured either as a participant or voyeur in the next YouTube Happy Slapping video. Because your local police and school administration is definitely taking notice.