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Stark warning over 'happy slapping'
Gavin Waterhouse was punched and kicked to death, while another teenager filmed the incident on a cameraphone. The BBC reports.
"The decision to prosecute the teenager who filmed that fatal attack on her mobile phone has been hailed as a legal landmark by the Crown Prosecution Service.
The CPS said it was thought to be the first time a suspect in England and Wales had been successfully prosecuted for aiding and abetting murder or manslaughter by a "happy slapping" attack.
She was sentenced to two years' detention in a young offenders' institution when she appeared at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday. "
'Happy slap' death girl convicted
A 15-year-old girl has admitted filming the death of a man on her mobile phone in a so-called "happy slapping" attack, reports the BBC.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the girl was handed a mobile phone by one of the attackers and was told to "video this".
She then approached Mr Waterhouse and asked him for some money before recording the attack upon him.
Prosecution witnesses said they saw and heard the attackers boasting about what they had just done, saying it was not the first time that they had attacked the victim. They also shared the video footage with friends, the court heard.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the decision to prosecute the girl was a legal landmark. Mark Masters, 19, and a male, 17, have admitted manslaughter.
All three defendants will be sentenced at a later date. "
X Factor girl quits over happy slapping video
X Factor talent show hopeful Emily Nakanda has quit in shame after being videoed "happy slapping" a teenage girl. UK's Mirror reports.
From X Factor website:
Emily will not sing in the competition on Saturday’s big band night, and for her, the competition is over.Emily chose to withdraw from the competition following stories which have appeared in the tabloids over the last couple of days. She is pictured, on mobile phone footage and video stills, allegedly carrying out so-called happy-slapping attacks.
Previously: - 'X Factor' Finalist Emily Exposed As A Happy Slapper
Curbs call on pupils' phone usage
Teaching union representatives have called for schools to be made "mobile phone free zones" following the filming of an alleged attack on a head teacher in Scotland. The BBC reports.
"Concerns have been raised after a "happy slapping" incident last week in which a 15-year-old boy allegedly assaulted a Borders school rector. The pupil had been excluded from school in the morning and had returned at lunchtime, when the alleged attack took place. This appears to be the first real incident involving a teacher."
Previously: - 15-year-old 'happy slaps headteacher'
Children film sex on their mobiles
Children are using mobile phones to film each other having sex and are then sending the images to classmates, reports The Sunday Times.
"Experts say the trend is growing and draw comparisons to the “happy slapping” craze in which children use mobile phone cameras to film assaults on members of the public.
Two weeks ago a 13-year-old boy was caught with footage on his mobile phone of two fellow pupils aged 15 having sex near their school in Warwickshire.
In another case last summer a 16-year-old boy used his mobile phone to film a 14-year-old girl having sex in a bedroom at a house party in Perth and sent the images to his school friends.
Some blame the trend on the ease with which children can access pornography on the internet or mobiles, so they become desensitised to images normally regarded as shocking.
Andrew Durham, a consultant practitioner at the Sexualised Inappropriate Behaviours Service, which deals with children’s sexual problems, said: “It is now a feature within young people’s culture that these incidences get filmed. It is similar to the way people use phones to film others being assaulted.”
... Experts believe many children are unaware that sending pornographic images can fall foul of the law .
Last month, in one of the first such court cases, a 16-year old boy admitted passing on video footage of a friend having sex with an underage girl. "
15-year-old 'happy slaps headteacher'
A 15-year old boy has been arrested after "happy slapping" his headteacher in a school canteen, it was reported last night, according to Scotsman News.
"... Bill McGregor, of the Headteachers' Association of Scotland, said: "This represents two new lows in Scottish schools. The first is a pupil feeling he can go and physically attack a teacher. The second is this spreading phenomenon of the use of mobile phones in schools to film and pass the images on."
Curse of the Camera Phone
Michael Agger on Slate has a written a wonderful and lengthy article summing up some of the most memorable stories about citizen reporting and describes the cameraphone as "our era's chronicler of infamy", notably for capturing Prince Harry wearing a Nazi costume, Kate Moss snorting coke, Michael Richards racist ranting in a small theater, the phenomenon of happy slapping and the execution of Sadam Hussein.
Even better, he has rounded up and put side by side in one single clip, all the video footages. Agger signs off with these very truthful words:
Now thanks to cameraphones we'll see the best of things, we'll see the worst of things. We'll see everything.
And on a personal note, thank you Michael Agger for giving kuddos to picturephoning.
Street kissing - a kind alternative to happy slapping
French initiative StreetKiss offers a friendly alternative to happy slapping, "Street Kissing".
Instead of slapping a random stranger, kiss them instead and capture the moment with a cameraphone - then post it online.
And don't be surprised, since this comes from France, men can kiss other men too.
Street kissing is catching on. Check out videos on Dailymotion and YouTube .
Matching entries from textually.org
Mobiles have 'key role for young'
More parents than ever now see mobiles as vital tools in supervising children's behaviour, giving them peace of mind, and making young people feel safer, reports the BBC.
"Despite fears over "happy slapping", text bullying and mobile crime, parents say that young people are safer with them than without, say researchers.The research was carried out by the The Trust for Study of Adolescence and showed that parents typically bought children mobiles when they moved to secondary schools so they could keep track of them and for emergencies."
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Happy Slapping hits Singapore
Color renderings from The Electric New Paper's account of a "happy slapping" incident in Singapore, where three girls assaulted another girl.
"Such aggression is not new, said Mr David Kan, counsellor and executive director of the Family Life Centre.
All that is new is how assailants are using handphone cameras to record their actions, as such video recording becomes more commonplace.
... Mr Adrian Lim, the managing director of Tyem Academy which equips out-of-school youths with career academic programmes, has seen videos showing girls beating up other girls.
He explained that such clips are the teenagers' way of saying 'don't play punk with me. I'm quite fierce; see what I'm capable of'.
Mr Lim said: 'This is reality TV brought to the handphone level. "
European countries alarmed at spread of Happy Slapping
The Houston Chronicle and The Washington Post report on the Happy Slapping craze is now spreading through Europe - and how European schools and governments are considering banning cell phones - and those that have already done so.
... "French police first grew concerned when youths filmed during last fall's rioting were seen using cell phones to record clashes between their friends and police, he said.
An attack on the teacher last month at a vocational high school in the town of Porcheville, in the Yvelines region west of Paris, sparked concern that youths could now be using phones to film premeditated violence.
According to the AP, "French police say they know of about 20 cases of filmed violence. A police captain in Paris says some young people see the exhibitions "as a way for the poor to get revenge against the rich."
In a sign that politicians are growing concerned, the education minister said Wednesday he wants cell phones banned from classrooms.
Other parts of Europe already have taken action. The German state of Bavaria and dozens of schools in Ireland have barred cell phones from classrooms.
Last month, Danish courts handed down the first "happy slapping" convictions to two teens. The pair, a boy and a girl, had recorded an assault on a passer-by in a Copenhagen shopping mall in February.
In one of the most chilling cases, a report in the French daily L'Express on Wednesday said that photos were taken of a young girl in Nice who was gang-raped this year, and that the images were circulated at her school."
Happy Slapping has occured in Switzerland as well. Click here for link to article (in French) and actual videos
Matching entries from textually.org
New technology may be changing the human brain
Is technology changing our brains? neuro-biologist Susan Greenfield asked this question of the House of Lord that affects all of us.
Excerpts from from The Guardian.
..." In just a couple of decades, we have slipped away from a culture based essentially on words to one based essentially on images, or pictures. This is probably one of the great shifts in the story of modern humans but we take it almost for granted.
... There can be little doubt that the structures, never mind the surface form, of the English language are changing fast.
... The process of traditional book-reading, which involves following an author through a series of interconnected steps in a logical fashion. We read other narratives and compare them, and so "build up a conceptual framework that enables us to evaluate further journeys... One might argue that this is the basis of education ... Traditional education, she says, enables us to "turn information into knowledge."
Put like that, it is obvious where her worries lie. The flickering up and flashing away again of multimedia images do not allow those connections , and therefore the context, to build up.
... But the main change is that even these shorthand sentences are surrounded by pictures. With mobile phone cameras, digital sticks and emailing, people no longer need to describe where they are but can just point, click and show a view, a friend's face or "happy slapping".
While not suggesting a revolt by mere democracies against the corporate power of the IT industries, Greenfield suggests this is an idea that should at least be investigated further. She wants more government funding for the scientists and educators trying to understand the impact of the digital-picture world on how children learn to think".
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Happy slapper . . . . slapped
A happy slapper’s mobile phone recording of an attack took an unexpected twist when his victim retaliated, flooring his assailant with a single punch, reports the Times Online. "In footage that is rapidly gaining cult status, an athletic young man in a white vest is seen plotting the attack on a stranger, filmed on his friend’s mobile phone. ... The victim recoils in pain and drops the bag. He sees his attacker turn and walk back to his friend, who is laughing and still recording the scene. Incredulous, he screams with rage. He asks his attacker what he was doing. Judging by his accent, he appears to be from Liverpool. The victim then approaches the youth and throws a fierce right-hand jab, punching him on the chin and knocking him unconscious. The man holding the camera phone shouts his friend’s name but carries on filming. ... He is perhaps the first recorded victim to turn the tables on his would-be attackers since the slapping craze began."
Matching entries from textually.org
Pupils use mobiles to 'bully' teachers
According to the Times online, it's not just children who are subject to bullying by SMS, but teachers are harrased as well. "Teachers have complained of “bullying” by pupils who use mobile phones to film them losing their temper and then send the videos to their friends for amusement. According to one teen, “The idea is to get the teacher to blow their top and then play it back to amuse your friends.” Often, the pupils goad staff into “ranting for the camera” to make the video as entertaining as possible. The phenomenon has caused such concern that it is to be raised in a motion at this week’s annual conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in Gateshead. “In some cases, teachers’ heads have been superimposed on another image to make them look stupid and the whole thing posted on an internet site.” ... The videos are not violent, unlike “happy slapping”, in which youths film each other attacking people. Teachers are worried, however, that the videos expose them to humiliation and, if seen by parents or colleagues, may damage their careers. Some observers point out, however, that the threat of covert filming may prompt teachers to curb their tempers and maintain high standards themselves. "
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Happy slapping arrives in Tenerife
The first known case in the Canary Islands of so-called “happy slapping”, a youth craze in which video phones are used to record attacks on unsuspecting victims of 3g technology, took place in Puerto de la Cruz this month when three local teenagers recorded the beating they meted out to a classmate outside Puerto de la Cruz’s IES secondary school, on camera. [via Tenerife News]
Happy Slapping hits Germany
According to The Telegraph , "happy slapping", "Lustiges Draufschlagen" or "Fröhliches Schlagen" as it has variously come to be known, is becoming a real problem in playgrounds across German schools. Excerpts: ... Some of the most recent attacks are also the most disturbing. At the Dag Hammarskjöld school in the southern district of Tempelhof last Tuesday a 15-year-old girl was attacked by 15 youths on her way home because she had laughed at a school mate during a lesson. They beat her up and filmed the attack which was discovered by police after her mother complained In the eastern district of Friedrichshain a large group of youths attacked passers-by with sticks and beer bottles. And in the case that has come to be known as the "Big Rabbit", rival pupils from schools in the neighbouring districts of Kreuzberg and Neukölln laid into each other in a local park and filmed the action. Meanwhile there is evidence that the phenomenon is taking on ever more disturbing features after police raided a school in Bavaria following a parental tip-off and confiscated 200 phones. On a large number of them they found violent videos, Nazi propaganda and violent pornography on the phones of children as young as 12 who swapped the images during breaks or after school. " Other than the UK, where the trend seems to have originated, happy slapping incidents have also been reported in Switzerland and Spain .
Happy Shagging
UK's Daily Snack reports that randy teens have sparked a new craze, "happy shagging". Teenagers are using mobile phones to film themselves having sex then forwarding the clips to their friends, in a new trend they call "daisy chains". "Kids as young as 13 are taking part in the group sex sessions. Health workers in south London were tipped off about the craze by a parent who found a sex film on their child’s mobile." [via MobHappy]
Young thugs carry out attacks just "for the buzz"
The Home Office found violent teenage attackers gave innocent victims a beating simply for fun or because they were bored and "had nothing else to do". Five per cent of those quizzed admitted carrying out assaults as a dare by friends - often with the happy slapping filmed on their mobile phones. Only six per cent blamed their behaviour on boozing.
Happy slappers jailed
A killer gang of "happy slappers" were jailed for a total of 44 years yesterday, after chilling pictures were released of them committing their crimes. ... Related articles on happy slapping crimes - an appallingly long and chilling list
Shades of Happy Slapping in Spain
Two young men have been arrested in Spain fo randomly beating up people in the street and filming their behaviour with their cameraphones.
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