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Does the Internet Create Lynch Mobs?
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Post by
ElhonnaDS
Bullying story about the bus monitor.
I think everyone is pretty much in agreement that these kids were wrong, and should have been punished by the school and their parents. But somewhere in this article, they said that one of the 13-year-olds had gotten 1000 missed calls and over 1000 threatening text messages.
I guess the debate I wanted to open up is this: Is the internet creating a new era of lynch mob mentality?
There is a tendency for stories of specific crimes, bad behavior, etc. to go viral, and a lot of times people react very strongly. It can be everything from raising money for a victim, pushing for police activity or passing around petitions for new laws, to sending death threats, stalking and publicizing people's contact info so they are harassed on a mob level.
I know that when I see something horrible on the internet, my first reaction is "I hope they do real jail time, or are expelled, or are publicly embarrassed in front of their friends or co-workers." But a lot of people take it a lot further, and feel they need to enact vigilante justice in the form of harassment, and possible actual violence. (Like when the Black Panthers put out a public reward for a hit on Zimmerman).
I think that on some level, public exposure of criminal activity acts as a deterrent, and for young offenders especially, embarrassment can be a much more effective punishment than loss of privileges. I think that if someone knows that his friends and neighbors might find out if he spits on homeless veterans, makes teenage cashiers cry to try and get a free meal, or that he steals baseballs out of the hands of children, it will make him think twice about such nasty behavior. But is there a segment of the internet that takes it way too far, and is that segment enough of a problem that we should worry about publicizing cases like that?
Post by
557473
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Rankkor
El, I know I will sound cold and cruel for saying this, but does the saying "Have a taste of your own medicine" rings any bells?
Don't expect me to feel any kind of sympathy for the kid who got 1000 threatening text messages. He's reaping what he sowed, and if this kind of response was given to every bully in the world, we would get rid of bullies permanently. Have them feel what its like to be verbally harassed for a change, and see if they keep it up.
Nothing deters crime more than turning the tables around.
Post by
557473
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Atik
El, I know I will sound cold and cruel for saying this, but does the saying "Have a taste of your own medicine" rings any bells?
Don't expect me to feel any kind of sympathy for the kid who got 1000 threatening text messages. He's reaping what he sowed, and if this kind of response was given to every bully in the world, we would get rid of bullies permanently. Have them feel what its like to be verbally harassed for a change, and see if they keep it up.
Nothing deters crime more than turning the tables around.
Or we would find out that some of them are raving sociopaths that get a thrill from the response.
Post by
Patty
Or that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
I'm with Elhonna on this, really. If you're going to lower yourself because you're morally outraged by something, don't expect anything to change.
Post by
MyTie
El, I know I will sound cold and cruel for saying this, but does the saying "Have a taste of your own medicine" rings any bells?
Don't expect me to feel any kind of sympathy for the kid who got 1000 threatening text messages. He's reaping what he sowed, and if this kind of response was given to every bully in the world, we would get rid of bullies permanently. Have them feel what its like to be verbally harassed for a change, and see if they keep it up.
Nothing deters crime more than turning the tables around.
Lawful Evil
Post by
ElhonnaDS
I'm not saying that some community response isn't a good thing. But there's a world of difference between, "That's disgusting- you should be ashamed of yourself," and, "I'm going to find where you live and kill you." And a "threatening" message is more along the lines of the second than the first.
Post by
Rankkor
El, I know I will sound cold and cruel for saying this, but does the saying "Have a taste of your own medicine" rings any bells?
Don't expect me to feel any kind of sympathy for the kid who got 1000 threatening text messages. He's reaping what he sowed, and if this kind of response was given to every bully in the world, we would get rid of bullies permanently. Have them feel what its like to be verbally harassed for a change, and see if they keep it up.
Nothing deters crime more than turning the tables around.
Lawful Evil
meh, I see myself more as Chaotic Neutral.
I'm not saying that some community response isn't a good thing. But there's a world of difference between, "That's disgusting- you should be ashamed of yourself," and, "I'm going to find where you live and kill you." And a "threatening" message is more along the lines of the second than the first.
As long as its verbal and doesn't actually move to physical harm, I still say the kid deserves it in spades.
Just saying "that's disgusting you should be ashamed of yourself" isn't gonna affect him. He already knows what he's doing is wrong, yet he still has fun doing it. Its when others do to him what he himself did to others, that he realizes how much pain he inflicts on others, and then maybe he can change his ways.
I will agree that since his bullying was only verbal, the reprisal he should receive should also be verbal. But for those bullies who actually do beat up others, they do deserve to get their crap beaten out of too.
Or that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
I'm with Elhonna on this, really. If you're going to lower yourself because you're morally outraged by something, don't expect anything to change.
beats the alternative of letting the bad guys get away with what they do just because its not a strong crime.
Dude kills/rapes someone = Goes to jail.
Kid verbally abuses someone = At best gets a slap on the wrist. And thus gets away with it. While jail would be too severe a punishment for school bullies, giving them a taste of their own medicine, is a far more appropriate punishment.
Post by
Patty
Actually, verbally abusing them would hardly encourage them to treat people more nicely in many cases, I would wager.
Post by
Atik
Actually, verbally abusing them would hardly encourage them to treat people more nicely in many cases, I would wager.
^This
If anything, they would take it as a sign they succeeded, and be encouraged to keep it up.
Post by
MyTie
El, I know I will sound cold and cruel for saying this, but does the saying "Have a taste of your own medicine" rings any bells?
Don't expect me to feel any kind of sympathy for the kid who got 1000 threatening text messages. He's reaping what he sowed, and if this kind of response was given to every bully in the world, we would get rid of bullies permanently. Have them feel what its like to be verbally harassed for a change, and see if they keep it up.
Nothing deters crime more than turning the tables around.
Lawful Evil
meh, I see myself more as Chaotic Neutral.
You want to encourage something evil (harassment) to achieve the goal of order (deterring bullies). Lawful Evil.
Post by
Rankkor
Actually, verbally abusing them would hardly encourage them to treat people more nicely in many cases, I would wager.
hey I'm not saying they should be treated like dirt for the rest of their lives. A little kindness goes a long way. But first they need to see what does it feels like to be on the other side before they can be open to change.
El, I know I will sound cold and cruel for saying this, but does the saying "Have a taste of your own medicine" rings any bells?
Don't expect me to feel any kind of sympathy for the kid who got 1000 threatening text messages. He's reaping what he sowed, and if this kind of response was given to every bully in the world, we would get rid of bullies permanently. Have them feel what its like to be verbally harassed for a change, and see if they keep it up.
Nothing deters crime more than turning the tables around.
Lawful Evil
meh, I see myself more as Chaotic Neutral.
You want to encourage something evil (harassment) to achieve the goal of order (deterring bullies). Lawful Evil.
People need to reap what they sow. Paying evil onto evil isn't evil.
Sow hatred, reap hatred. And then see if you enjoy it. If you don't, then try sowing kindness to reap kindness in turn.
Post by
MyTie
Paying evil onto evil isn't evil.
Yeah it is.
Post by
Atik
hey I'm not saying they should be treated like dirt for the rest of their lives. A little kindness goes a long way. But first they need to see what does it feels like to be on the other side before they can be open to change.
Actually, many bullies become such due to being bullied in the first place.
He who fights monsters and all that.
Post by
Rankkor
Paying evil onto evil isn't evil.
Yeah it is.
maybe if fluffershy puff puff magic island happy paradise country it is, but in the real grimmy, gritty, cruel world, it is not.
You wont dethrone tyrants by spraying them with flowers, you do it by spraying them with bullets.
History has taught us that much. And just as it works on the grand scale, it also works on the small scale.
Someone beat my little brother? I go and beat the crap out of them too. Someone killed someone? that someone should be killed as well. Nothing infuriates me more than seeing a bad guy get away with his or her crimes. No matter how small they are.
And its that willingness to tolerate crime that has made it flourish so much lately.
Sorry if I come off as cold, cruel, and inhumane, but after all the sht i've seen, and all the horrors I've witnessed first hand, and all the crap I've endured over here, I don't believe in pacifism anymore.
Post by
588688
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Magician22773
While jail would be too severe a punishment for school bullies, giving them a taste of their own medicine, is a far more appropriate punishment.
Actually, case like this are where a small amount of jail time would probably work wonders. Im not saying lock these kids up for a few years, but 30 days in juvenile detention, especially while on summer break from school, would not only do wonders in making them think twice about doing something like this again, but would show an example for all the other future bullies out there as well.
Post by
asakawa
I'm with MyTie on the 'lawful evil' call ^_^
Post by
588688
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
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