OT: Spare the Rod...

Have any of you read this story? It's disturbing. Apparently, eight Polk County, FL teens, ages 14 to 18, were arrested for luring a former friend into a house and beating her senseless. Oh yeah, and while they ganged up on her, they videotaped it. They filmed everything but the two guys standing outside playing look-out. The victim, 17 year old Victoria Lindsay, had apparently badmouthed the girls on Myspace. To seek their revenge, the girls lured her into the Mulberry, FL home she was temporarily living in (which is where the story gets even more twisted) and beat her for 30 minutes so that they could post it on Youtube. That'll teach her!

The beating took place in the home of Mercedes Nichols, one of the attackers. Lindsay had been staying with Nichols for about a week because Lindsay had been having problems with her parents. Nichols' mom, Christina Garcia, has done several interviews since the attack, and claims that her daughter tried to warn Lindsay, and that an adult neighbor heard the warning. But during the 30 minute beating, neither Nichols nor the unidentified adult witness called the police.

This crime is disturbing. It hits close to home for me, because I live in Polk County. My siblings grew up in Mulberry. Oh, and one of the little twits is my cousin's ex-girlfriend (I tried to tell him she was trouble).

All eight were arrested and will be tried as adults. After the girls were arrested, they were LAUGHING ABOUT IT, and joking that they wouldn't be going to the beach for spring break after all. Twisted, very twisted.

I just watched an interview with Lindsay's parents. Lindsay is not in critical condition, but she definitely suffered major damages. She is recovering from a concussion, and has yet to regain hearing or vision on her left side. She also suffered several cuts and bruises. Meanwhile, her parents are blaming the Internet.

"For whatever reason, this Myspace, Youtube... It's gone too far. And what it's doing to our kid's... It's too much," said Talisa Lindsay.

"These websites that are creating a space for violent activity... As far as I am concerned, MySpace is the anti-Christ for children," claimed Patrick Lindsay.

The situation is awful. But is the Internet to blame? Is Myspace the anti-Christ? If so, does that mean I am satanic for having a Myspace account?

I would really like to see someone step up and tell parents everywhere to wake up and smell the freakin' coffee. Do you want to know why your kids are beating the crap out of each other? Because that's how they see you solve problems. Do you want to know why your kids are getting into trouble? Maybe it is because you don't keep decent tabs on them to know what they're doing. Where did these eight sets of parents think their kids were when this happened?

I'm not a parent yet, so it may be unfair for me to toss around these kinds of accusations. But I do know that when I have children, I will know where they are and who they are with, for the most part. And no, I will not spare the rod...