Video-Slap-Punch - A Dangerous Trend Among Teens
One of the biggest and most dangerous trends among teens is the "Video/Slap/Punch" Game.
The rules are simple I slap, hit, or punch my friend as hard as I can in the face, head, or chest to see if he/she can "take the hit" and then I film it via my phone or video recording device.
Once recovered from the hit, he or she reciprocates and hits, slaps or punches me in the same manner.
Another version of the video-slap-punch is a gang of teens who gang up on a target teen and videotapes the attack, and post it online, and it goes viral as more teens e-mail or forward the video slapping incident.
There have been more reported cases of these video slapping incidents and injuries sustained by young children and teens.
In Union City NJ, a fifteen-year-old boy, died as a result of the first punch thrown by his friend to his chest.
His parent's weren't even aware that their son was out of the house that night.
Yet, down he went, dead with the first punch of the night.
The autopsy revealed the existence of an unknown precondition of a faulty heart valve that was a time bomb in their son's chest.
But, before that night, who knows for how long he and his friend were punching each other in the chest.
It was obvious, from the expression on his friend's face and his tears that he never expected that his punch would kill his friend that night.
A few weeks ago, Dr.
Phil had a young man on the show to caution another teen who was actively engaged in this punching phenomenon.
This young man was receiving blows from his family including his grandmother to the face, neck, and sides of his head as a way to "develop his stamina to take a blow" for what he hoped would be his life work as an ultimate fighter.
The Guest that came out next was a young man who was now profoundly brain damaged as a result of one single blow to the face when he was sixteen, which broke his nose, and threw him back and down, smashing his head off the concrete sidewalk.
He received about 15 surgeries to reduce the swelling on his brain, and to remove a portion of his skull to allow the expansion of his brain.
To give you an understanding of how much his brain swelled-his head swelled triple the size of a normal human head.
This young man spent the last five or six years of his life, trying to get back any functionality.
He is now profoundly sensitive to the light and can not read or write for longer than a few minutes at a time.
He is also on permanent disability.
The extreme cost to his life, future and the monetary cost to his parents are astronomical.
A third incident that you may be aware of from the news is that of a young teenage girl being lured to a friend's house for a party, and then being set upon by a group of about seven girls who were videotaping the assault.
Good set of friend there huh? These teens have way too much time on their hands.
After school or during recess times, they have "Video Slap" competitions right on school properties.
They text each other, gather together and hold these games and round robins of who is the toughest and can hit the hardest.
During the competition if they have enough time, they may confront or take hits from 3 to 7 opponents.
That is provided they are still standing up.
Last and finally in a more extreme derivative of "Video-Slap-Punch" teens and young adults are slamming and slapping unsuspecting strangers and having a big laugh while causing direct pain, discomfort, and some major injuries to others, and for their amusement the video record of their assault, showing the victim getting hit over and over or going down hard.
What have we become? With more reality TV, teens are living their own reality TV everyday.
Movies like "Saw" create a documentary feel of extreme, and graphic torture and manipulation.
Video games like Grand Theft Auto reinforce this graphic trend of violence.
Teens are creating and participating in gross behaviors without remorse, and without emotion.
It really is a fantasy life with no pain, and only cool images playing.
Reality has become very skewered.
For many of the young, any attention is good attention.
When the video-viral element and bad behavior are mixed together, the attention that this young teen receives is profoundly amplified.
How do you reach your teen or young adult? I personally think that boredom is one of the direct causes of what is happening here.
Entertainment has become immediate, and abundant.
Pushing emotional and physical boundaries have become very easy, and the rewards have become huge.
I think that you have to first engage your teen or young child, and secondly I think that you really have to define what is right and correct behavior and what is wrong and unacceptable behavior.
You need to have in place very specific consequences of unacceptable behavior.
I think phones with video capability, should be monitored in some capacity.
I really think that you can have a discussion with children and teens about real pain and injuries that have resulted in the past from silly games related to hitting, slapping, punching, or kicking.
In that discussion try to access their feelings of betrayal, indignation, or embarrassment if this video were at his or her expense.
More importantly, we have to address the boredom.
What other outlets can you design or encourage that are engaging both physically, and emotionally, and that the teen feels good about him or herself? You have to participate in your teen's life and activities.
Take an interest in what he or she is doing after school.
Find out with whom and where they are spending the free time.
Don't ignore bruises, black eyes, or loopy or spacey behavior, these could be signs of something more dramatic going on.
If they are posting frequently online, take a look sometimes at some of the things that they find humorous, or some of what he or she is actually posting.
The rules are simple I slap, hit, or punch my friend as hard as I can in the face, head, or chest to see if he/she can "take the hit" and then I film it via my phone or video recording device.
Once recovered from the hit, he or she reciprocates and hits, slaps or punches me in the same manner.
Another version of the video-slap-punch is a gang of teens who gang up on a target teen and videotapes the attack, and post it online, and it goes viral as more teens e-mail or forward the video slapping incident.
There have been more reported cases of these video slapping incidents and injuries sustained by young children and teens.
In Union City NJ, a fifteen-year-old boy, died as a result of the first punch thrown by his friend to his chest.
His parent's weren't even aware that their son was out of the house that night.
Yet, down he went, dead with the first punch of the night.
The autopsy revealed the existence of an unknown precondition of a faulty heart valve that was a time bomb in their son's chest.
But, before that night, who knows for how long he and his friend were punching each other in the chest.
It was obvious, from the expression on his friend's face and his tears that he never expected that his punch would kill his friend that night.
A few weeks ago, Dr.
Phil had a young man on the show to caution another teen who was actively engaged in this punching phenomenon.
This young man was receiving blows from his family including his grandmother to the face, neck, and sides of his head as a way to "develop his stamina to take a blow" for what he hoped would be his life work as an ultimate fighter.
The Guest that came out next was a young man who was now profoundly brain damaged as a result of one single blow to the face when he was sixteen, which broke his nose, and threw him back and down, smashing his head off the concrete sidewalk.
He received about 15 surgeries to reduce the swelling on his brain, and to remove a portion of his skull to allow the expansion of his brain.
To give you an understanding of how much his brain swelled-his head swelled triple the size of a normal human head.
This young man spent the last five or six years of his life, trying to get back any functionality.
He is now profoundly sensitive to the light and can not read or write for longer than a few minutes at a time.
He is also on permanent disability.
The extreme cost to his life, future and the monetary cost to his parents are astronomical.
A third incident that you may be aware of from the news is that of a young teenage girl being lured to a friend's house for a party, and then being set upon by a group of about seven girls who were videotaping the assault.
Good set of friend there huh? These teens have way too much time on their hands.
After school or during recess times, they have "Video Slap" competitions right on school properties.
They text each other, gather together and hold these games and round robins of who is the toughest and can hit the hardest.
During the competition if they have enough time, they may confront or take hits from 3 to 7 opponents.
That is provided they are still standing up.
Last and finally in a more extreme derivative of "Video-Slap-Punch" teens and young adults are slamming and slapping unsuspecting strangers and having a big laugh while causing direct pain, discomfort, and some major injuries to others, and for their amusement the video record of their assault, showing the victim getting hit over and over or going down hard.
What have we become? With more reality TV, teens are living their own reality TV everyday.
Movies like "Saw" create a documentary feel of extreme, and graphic torture and manipulation.
Video games like Grand Theft Auto reinforce this graphic trend of violence.
Teens are creating and participating in gross behaviors without remorse, and without emotion.
It really is a fantasy life with no pain, and only cool images playing.
Reality has become very skewered.
For many of the young, any attention is good attention.
When the video-viral element and bad behavior are mixed together, the attention that this young teen receives is profoundly amplified.
How do you reach your teen or young adult? I personally think that boredom is one of the direct causes of what is happening here.
Entertainment has become immediate, and abundant.
Pushing emotional and physical boundaries have become very easy, and the rewards have become huge.
I think that you have to first engage your teen or young child, and secondly I think that you really have to define what is right and correct behavior and what is wrong and unacceptable behavior.
You need to have in place very specific consequences of unacceptable behavior.
I think phones with video capability, should be monitored in some capacity.
I really think that you can have a discussion with children and teens about real pain and injuries that have resulted in the past from silly games related to hitting, slapping, punching, or kicking.
In that discussion try to access their feelings of betrayal, indignation, or embarrassment if this video were at his or her expense.
More importantly, we have to address the boredom.
What other outlets can you design or encourage that are engaging both physically, and emotionally, and that the teen feels good about him or herself? You have to participate in your teen's life and activities.
Take an interest in what he or she is doing after school.
Find out with whom and where they are spending the free time.
Don't ignore bruises, black eyes, or loopy or spacey behavior, these could be signs of something more dramatic going on.
If they are posting frequently online, take a look sometimes at some of the things that they find humorous, or some of what he or she is actually posting.
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