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Girl-On-Girl Video Violence A Troubling Teen Trend
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True, Behavior: Tweens, Behavior: Teens
Physical fighting is a growing trend among girls. Credit: Getty Images
If your teen daughter aspires for a career in the limelight, the road to rock-star fame has gone viral, and there's a role for you, too: Goad her on as she stages a girl-on-girl fight and capture it on video.
Prosecutors across the country are seeing a dangerous trend of increased girl-on-girl violence posted on YouTube, and some fear that the cause may be rooted in reality TV shows like MTV's "Teen Mom 2," NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
Earlier this week "Teen Mom 2" star Jenelle Evans was charged in North Carolina along with two others for fighting in public, according to CBS News. A videotape of the fight was released online, showing with her friends goading on the smack down.
Videos posted on YouTube are showing a violent, disturbing trend, Sanders reports. He says in the NBC report that reality TV shows are partly responsible for leading girls to believe that outrageous and violent behavior in front of the cameras is somewhat acceptable.
"We're watching these programs and thinking, 'Nobody would behave like that,' and assuming our children feel the same way - horrified to see it, not excited," prosecutor Wendy Murphy tells the Today Show's The Clicker. "But I think the line for kids between entertainment and warning signs, they're not always clear the way adults are. ... Kids are seeing it in a celebratory way on television. This is how you become famous. They feel this is normal - not just acceptable, but normal. The way they should be."
Psychiatrist Janet Taylor tells Today she agrees and feels the link between reality TV and teen violence comes in part from the lack of consequences shown on such programming.
"I mean being reckless, trying new things, and not worrying about consequences is part of being a teenager," Taylor tells Today. "So what happens on these shows is you see no consequences. You see 'Teen Mom' and people think they're getting paid, but they don't look at what's so hard - 24/7 raising a child. Nor do they see the consequences of assault, which is what we're visualizing with these videos."
The growing trend in girls fighting on video has anti-bullying campaigners calling for tighter federal controls on YouTube after a video of a violent fight between a bullied schoolgirl and her classmate was posted on the website, according to the Daily Mirror.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
4-01-2011 @ 10:33PM
Barbara GreenbergPhD and Jennifer Powell-Lunder PsyD said...Once again, this author writes a timely and excellent article. We concur that teens often have difficulty understanding the whole picture of actions and consequences when watching teen role models. Rock on, Mary Beth Sammons!
Barbara GreenbergPhD and Jennifer Powell-LunderPsyD
Authors of Teenage as a Second language
www.talkingteenage.com
Reply
4-04-2011 @ 7:41AM
SirGalton said...Is this truly happening more often? Probably not, when every teen has access to a video camera/cell phone, along with social media sites, people then become more aware of a problem that has been escalating for a very long time.
This is completely a behavioral problem, which needs to start with parents not condoning fights (like this one), and for law enforcement to follow through with charges.
Unfortunately, this type of sick and animalistic behavior is not uncommon in the black culture, especially among women. If you read the right media sources, you will see black women attacking other people in public, sometimes leaving their children behind or encouraging them to step in. This is NOT racial, it is cultural, as some cultures condone or reinforce the displaying of masculinity, the same has begin to rear it's head among women, often in cities. - Could this also be tied to socioeconomic status? - Probably
This is a very interesting and complex problem in our society!!! This is a topic that needs to be looked at more in depth, and CANNOT be blamed on TV or reality shows... that is an easy cop out which does not come close to solving the problem.
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