The story about the Florida girl beaten by her peers has brought the so-called experts out of the woodwork again. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s girls, heck, cheerleaders involved that makes this incident particularly newsworthy.

The Orlando Sentinel reported it this way. (Oops  – the link died.)

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying for a moment that the behavior is correct. It’s not. You shouldn’t post defamatory material. You shouldn’t gang-beat others. But sometimes stuff just happens.

Making it a little bit more personal… over my lifetime I’ve done some ass-kicking.  And I’ve had my ass kicked a few times, too. Each role – kicker or kickee – teaches you something, and you come away from each lesson a little stronger for the experience. You can wring your hands all you want; sometimes it just happens.

But it’s the stuff that followed the Florida incident that riles me, beginning with the requisite blaming of others. What’s become of taking responsibility for your actions, or taking responsibility for those in your charge? Of teaching? Of setting a better example? No, it’s easier to blame someone else. I wonder, who will be the first one to bring suit this time? Or write a book?

And then there are the experts who have all the answers. Well, actually, it always boils down to the same answer, doesn’t it?

Here’s an article: Videotaped Florida Teen Beating Prompts Calls To Block Violent Content. [Oops- the link died.]

So let’s block it. Yeah, that’s it. Regulate! Censor! Protect! Then it’ll go away, and we can get back to the really important stuff, like who’s winning on American Idol or something.

Y’know, when the stuff that passes for entertainment today is evidently (according to media coverage, ratings, paychecks, and so on) more important than anything else, is it any wonder that some of today’s kids are all-consumed with obtaining a piece of that attention?

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