Something has to be done about the plague of violence glorified by a Youtube culture:
A group of middle school girls videotaped the beating of a 12-year-old schoolmate and posted it on the Internet in an attack that authorities believe was inspired by a similar one in Florida, police said.
No charges have been filed and police said they have not yet interviewed all the girls, ages 12-14, who are students at Clarksville Middle School in Indiana. The girls' identities were not released because they are juveniles.
The victim, who was treated for cuts and bruises at a hospital, was the daughter of a police officer, said Police Chief Dwight Ingle.
Police said the girls lured the victim to a parking lot near a warehouse in the town just north of Louisville, Kentucky, on April 12 and beat her up. The violence was videotaped and later posted on the video-sharing Web site PhotoBucket, Ingle said. It has since been removed.
The video begins with one girl arguing with the victim and escalates into a fight during which the 12-year-old is repeatedly hit in the head as other girls watch and laugh, police said.
Detective Darrell Rayborn said Thursday that police believe the plot was inspired by a similar scheme in which a group of teenage girls in central Florida posted the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old victim online. Parts of that video have been widely seen on TV and Youtube.
It wasn't just Youtube in general that glamorized the beating of that girl which led to the copycat incident. People, especially the young, imitate what they see, especially if it is sensationlized:
The Florida cheerleader whose brutal 30-minute beating last week became one of the most-watched video clips on YouTube.com has spoken publicly for the first time about her ordeal.
"Your No. 1 friend is your family. Don't trust anybody," warns Victoria Lindsay, 16, in an interview with People magazine during an "Inside Edition" preview.
The Lakeland, Fl, teen, who is now being home schooled, suffered concussion, bruising and damage to her left eye and ear during the beating, which took place on March 30 at a friend's home and caused a media storm after appearing online.
In a 911 call requesting an ambulance after the viscous attack and released by police on Tuesday, Lindsay sobbed to the dispatcher, "I just got jumped", while a woman identified as a friend's mother described her injuries as "blood in her mouth, a big old knot on her left eye, and we think she's got a tooth broke."
Commenting on the public nature of the assault, Lindsay's father, Patrick Lindsay, told People magazine that he feels "bitter" about the viral nature of the videotaped beating for which eight of her classmates, six girls and two boys aged between 14 and 18, face charges including battery and false imprisonment.
"You put it on the Internet, it will live in infamy," he explained.
There was another recent incident:
Video of a northwest Missouri boy beating a smaller youth has been removed from YouTube.
The tape shows a Savannah High School student pummeling another boy in the face and head in the school's gym locker room. YouTube removed the 30-second video Tuesday afternoon after the tape was viewed 1,042 times.
The larger of the teens knocked the other down into the fetal position with about a dozen punches, then slugged him another 13 times until the boy's face bled.
The mother of the larger teen defended her son Tuesday, telling the St. Joseph News-Press that the smaller boy was a bully, and that her son "had had enough of it." The smaller boy's mother said the incident is personal business.
School officials said district policy dictated discipline for the March 18 incident but declined to elaborate.
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