I watched a horrible replay of a cell phone video on ABC News. A group of around 100 teens went on a rampage in a Kroger parking lot in Memphis, Tennessee. A 25 year old customer was knocked to the ground and stomped unconscious. The 17 and 18 year old store employees who came to the rescue were also stomped unconscious. Then, in a barbaric act, they picked up the pumpkins outside and threw them at the heads of unconscious victims. According to the store manager: each pumpkin weighted in excess of 20 lbs!
Some videos for you to see:
1) Sky.com, a UK News Service, reviewed this story.
2) Atlantic City, New Jersey's take on the story.
3) Huffington Post's commentary
4) A danger of the knockout game: backfired on the attacker.
5) Arrests in the grocery store assault.
6) Trying juveniles as an adult.
Please look closely at the second hyperlink above as it is the most appalling to me. All the links have the same videos but this one is the most clearest. Examining the face of those who attacked, you can see the joyous smile on some of the faces. The young teen in the lime green t-shirt seen stomping one man's head repeatedly has been arrested, as per the fifth hyperlink. The same hyperlink later stated that almost a dozen teens have been arrested, all between the ages of 14 to 19. People are pushing to arrest the parents of these teens, an action I support completely!
These parents poorly prepared their teens. Going to the sixth hyperlink, you can see that a fourteen year old can be arrested as an adult in Tennessee. If convicted, he will always be tried as an adult in the future.
If you're going to argue that they are children, then it doesn't hold water. What these teens did could have killed those three people. Their concussions will be cause for concern for the rest of their lives. The brain damage from this incident will not likely be apparent till late in life. This doesn't take into account the psychological damage of being attacked by 100 + teenagers in a large grocery store parking lot . If some are truly "children", the parents need to be charged in a court of law. These children should always be under adult supervision because they are easily swayed by peer pressure. If they left without telling their parents, the police should have been called to look for them.The teenagers and parents of these 14 and over should heed the warning in the 4th hyperlink. A teen fell in with a group of other teens. The father of a six year old was with the child at a bus stop. They (The teens) in a van circled him like a pack of rabid dogs. When they jumped out of the van, one shoved an object hard into his side. He had no idea of their intent. Later, it was found to be a stun gun that didn't fire. This father was a licensed gun owner. In fear for his child's life, and his own, he shot the teen twice. Long story short, the teen recovered and is in prison for a year. A hard price to pay for a game.
Parents need to educate their children and teens on the responsibilities as well as the freedom of being an adult. Breaking some laws has the life altering consequences not shown in popular media. If the parents cannot control their teens, then they need to seek legal help. If they can't tell you the who, what, where, when, and why of where they are going, stop them from going! If they leave, inform the police of an underage teenager on the street that needs adult supervision. If they heard you, understood you, and didn't stay in the house, then they chose the course of action and you have no choice but to follow.
Teens without adult supervision fall prey to group mentality. Only God's grace prevented the deaths of the three people in that Kroger parking lot in Memphis, Tennessee. Besides the teenagers, the parents hold some blame.
Parents need to take back the responsibility of raising their offspring!
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