Today’s YouTube generation have latched on to ‘happy slapping’ as quickly as the previous generation lapped up the Tamagotchi hand-held digital pets, but experts say such camera phone antics are no more than a rebellious escape by bored teens and the media are partly to blame, says Chinwe Akomah.
If Prince Charming had lost his beloved Cinderella at a fancy ball in modern society, he would not have scoured the land to find her. He would have used YouTube. On the day’s ‘most viewed’ videos would be Prince Charming’s complaints on how he lost his blonde beauty and his pleas for her to claim her glass slipper and therefore his heart. In addition, hundreds of videos of women of varying proportions would follow. The moral of the story is everyone is using You Tube and for every purpose too.
Two years ago, the video-sharing website was full of clips of TV bloopers, homemade cartoons and pets in a spot of bother. However, in recent months the website has been crowded with ‘happy slapping’ videos of young people filming each other attacking strangers, most videos ending up on YouTube. The internet epidemic has become so widespread that many ‘happy slapping’ films have been reported and, in some cases, have led to convictions. Last year the BBC reported that three men were jailed for beating a homeless man to death in Stratford, East London. The incident was filmed on a camera phone and shown to a friend “as a form of entertainment.”
Technology and the media have played a vital role in the perpetuation of the amateur filmaking fad. Homemade videos have made celebrities out of ordinary people and have provided teens with a way into the 15-minutes-of-fame world, which is pocket- money feasible. MTV were the first to tap into the candid camera culture by giving a group of young American men a prime time slot to display the daredevil stunts and pranks they had attempted in their hometowns. The show, Jackass, proves popular among young people across the globe. In addition, spurred a group of childish Welsh pariahs, later called Dirty Sanchez, to do the same thing much to MTV’s delight. Sidelined adolescents can be forgiven for following fortunate no-hoper stars when reality TV has catapulted them into the media spotlight.
In news- related website, spiked-online.com, University of East London media lecturer Dr. Graham Banfield said, “I think that Big Brother, Jackass, Dirty Sanchez all try to fill the same void, based on widespread indulgence of private anguish.The line between Celebrity Wrestling and happy slapping is not as well drawn.It seems it is not on for kids to circulate violent images, but it’s okay for reputable broadcasters to do so.”
Colin Sweetman, the managing director of E-Voluntary, a digital media, project management, company, said the popularity of ‘happy slapping’ stems from need for a symbol of status. He added, “The key demographic for buying phones is 16 to 24 year olds and they buy phones with these camera features on them because it is the only status of what they can afford.
People have broadband now and have friends who can capture videos on their phone whereas years ago they did not have this.
Youths hint at the boredom they feel in a highly regulated society. Some dismiss the ‘happy slap’ stain on youth culture as mere fun. Manny Logan, a 16 year old from South London said, on Tonight with Trevor McDonald: “You see someone sitting there, they look like they’re dumb. You just run up to them and slap them. And run off. It’s funny.”
Others suggest that today’s youth are rebelling against a tedious and constrained lifestyle. On a young people’s social networking site www.blackchat.com, one said: “Most of these kids on road today are bored with nothing to do than walk the streets and entertain themselves, which eventually gets them into trouble.”
The ‘happy slap’ craze that has gripped today’s generation has turned naïve, ugly stepsisters into unwitting criminals. Prince Charming may have to search elsewhere for his Cinderella.
