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On Tuesday. February 20, a CNN report noted the increasing frequency of what criminologists call "sport killings," teenagers beating and murdering the homeless. According to this report, in 2006, 122 homeless were attacked and 20 were murdered by a group of teenagers described as "largely middle- class teens, with no criminal records, attacking the homeless with bats, golf clubs, paintball guns." I commented on two blogs discussing this disturbing trend in teenage violence. The first, at NC Mental Hope News, is an objective summary of the CNN report. The second blog, "Sport Killing Brought on by Lack of After School Programs?" at Voteswagon.com takes a political and cultural look at the etiology of teen sport killing. My comments follow.
My comment at NC Mental Hope News:
Thank you for such a thorough post. This CNN report certainly unveils an extremely disconcerting and all too unnoticed trend of violence among teenagers. Reading this made me won
der if these teens like Billy Ammons, Tom Daugherty, and Brian Hooks, pictured left, really get lost in the moment and fail to realize what they are doing, or if they are calculating and cold individuals who simply enjoy battering the defenseless homeless. Evidence that the teenagers get swept away by the violent fantasy before they realize what they've done can be found in the American Psychological Association findings that violent video games and music can increase aggression. This finding may also explain why the sport killers are almost entirely boys, since boys are found to play violent games and listen to violent music more than girls. There are also many individual, family, and community risk factors that can predispose a young person to aggression. However, I find it hard to believe that these teenagers have no idea that they are committing horrific acts as they humiliate, beat, and sometimes kill our nation's homeless. If teens simply could not help themselves, they would all be out killing homeless people. I think evidence for premeditation and awareness of the acts lies in Billy Ammon's statement that the beating of Norris Gaynor "felt like teeing off."
My comment at Voteswagon.com:
This is a very interesting and thought- provoking view on the cause of the increasing frequency of teen sport killings. I do not think that most people would take this sort of political and cultural look into teen violence. I agree that the teenagers of present America are suffering due to cut-backs in after-school programs and supervision. This theory is backed up by an American Psychological Association Monitor on Psychology article, in which Robert W. Blum states that, "Too many kids- rich and poor- are left to their own devices. Kids need structure to grow and to be healthy." Blum found that academic performance, amount of structure during free time, and family relationships play a much larger role in teenage risky behavior than do race or family income. According to a surv
ey by the Afterschool Alliance, during the 2005/2006 school year, 75% of after-school programs operated at or above maximum capacity, and 87% of respondents said that there were children in their communities who needed after-school programs but had no access to them. The survey also reports that fewer than half of the respondents felt secure about their funding for the next two years, and only 20% felt secure about funding for the next three to five years. Does this mean that the sport killings will only continue to become more and more frequent? A report released today by the Alliance announces that President Bush plans not to increase funding in 2008. Rather, there will be $981 million in funding out of the requested $56 billion, and forty- four education programs are targeted for elimination. If Blum is correct, it seems that, with this further cut- back in after- school program funding, the amount of unsupervised teenagers will continue to rise, along with violent and risky behaviors such as sport killing.
We all know that domestic abuse exists. Husbands and wives abusing each other physically and emotionally is shocking and disturbing, but it has been happening for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years. However, there is a new, even more disconcerting trend taking place. Teenagers are physically abusing and basically stalking each other through use of cell phones and online accounts. This startling phenomenon is made worse by the fact that 
many teenagers are afraid to report abuse and do not know who to turn to. In honor of National Teen Violence Awareness and Prevention Week (February 5-9), new programs are underway encouraging the prevention of and education about teenage dating abuse. The first program is that of Sarah Van Zanten, pictured right, a 17 year- old from Palo Alto, California who is touring the Bay Area to educate others her age about her own terrifying experience with violence in teenage relationships. Sarah is a part of the second project, a hotline called "Love is Respect," funded by Liz Claiborne, the Office of Violence against women, and the Domestic Violence Hotline to help teenage victims of the fairly recent trend of abuse via cellular phones and the internet. I found two very interesting blogs, one addressing violence in teenage relationships, and the other addressing wireless emotional abuse. My comments on these two blogs are below.Comment on Zendo Deb's blog about teenage violence:
To answer your opening question, boys (and girls) are getting their violent inspiration from all of those sources.
Abuse tends to be a familial trait passed down through the generations, so boys are likely to hit their girlfriends if they are used to their dads hitting their moms. They are also desensitized somewhat from violent video games and mo
vies, and they feel pressured to conform to their peers. I found a more recent study (2004) from the Department of Justice that reports that females 20-34 are now at the highest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence. Nonetheless, the statistic from TRU that 1 in 3 teenagers know someone like Sarah Van Zanten who has been physically abused is staggering, and that is only if the victims have told anyone. I congratulate you on noting that violence does not discriminate socioeconomically. In 2005, 15% of all intimate partner homicides took place in suburban areas, just under the 20% in rural areas. Teenagers need to know that socioeconomic status does not protect them from violence.Comment on Poppy's blog about high tech student abuse:
Thank you for such a thorough post. These statistics are shocking to say the least. The technological prowess of today's teenagers certainly makes it easier for them to be in constant contact with each other. However, with the amount of sleep teenagers need (about 9 hours), I'm shocked that 24% are able to contact one another e
very single hour between midnight and 5am. According to a report by the National Center for Sleep Disorders Research, that disturbance in their sleep pattern is very unhealthy for them, since they are not getting any REM sleep, necessary to proper cognitive functioning. Such behavior could easily wreak havoc on a teenager's academic performance, not to mention the fact that they must be text messaging each other constantly throughout their classes (10-30 times per hour). The fact that parents are not all that aware of their teens' relentless communication with their partners is not very surprising. As adolescents get older, they spend more and more time with their friends and
less time with their parents. What is worrisome is the point when these cellular relationships become obsessions. Teenagers should not have to fear repercussions from their partners for not responding to the fiftieth text message that day, nor should they hide this physical and emotional abuse from their parents. At least now they will have someone anonymous to call for advice, thanks to the new National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, loveisrespect.org.
der if these teens like Billy Ammons, Tom Daugherty, and Brian Hooks, pictured left, really get lost in the moment and fail to realize what they are doing, or if they are calculating and cold individuals who simply enjoy battering the defenseless homeless. Evidence that the teenagers get swept away by the violent fantasy before they realize what they've done can be found in the American Psychological Association findings that violent video games and music can increase aggression. This finding may also explain why the sport killers are almost entirely boys, since boys are found to play violent games and listen to violent music more than girls. There are also many individual, family, and community risk factors that can predispose a young person to aggression. However, I find it hard to believe that these teenagers have no idea that they are committing horrific acts as they humiliate, beat, and sometimes kill our nation's homeless. If teens simply could not help themselves, they would all be out killing homeless people. I think evidence for premeditation and awareness of the acts lies in Billy Ammon's statement that the beating of Norris Gaynor "felt like teeing off."
ey by the Afterschool Alliance, during the 2005/2006 school year, 75% of after-school programs operated at or above maximum capacity, and 87% of respondents said that there were children in their communities who needed after-school programs but had no access to them. The survey also reports that fewer than half of the respondents felt secure about their funding for the next two years, and only 20% felt secure about funding for the next three to five years. Does this mean that the sport killings will only continue to become more and more frequent? A report released today by the Alliance announces that President Bush plans not to increase funding in 2008. Rather, there will be $981 million in funding out of the requested $56 billion, and forty- four education programs are targeted for elimination. If Blum is correct, it seems that, with this further cut- back in after- school program funding, the amount of unsupervised teenagers will continue to rise, along with violent and risky behaviors such as sport killing.
