Teens' destructive stunts becoming more violent

11:46 PM EDT on Sunday, June 19, 2005

By TOD ROBBERSON / The Dallas Morning News

LONDON – Dressed in hooded sweatshirts, they have rampaged through suburban parks, ripping out saplings, knocking down bike riders and threatening picnickers. On buses, they laugh while punching passengers in the face and recording the attack on their mobile phones.

Anything of value in the path of Britain's youth gangs – phones, bicycles, jewelry, sometimes even human life – seemingly is theirs for the taking because, according to Prime Minister Tony Blair, Britons have been frightened into submission.

In a country once world-renowned for its civility, delinquency among British youth is growing out of control, top officials warn. The list of recent headline-grabbing crimes by teenaged gangs of "hoodies" has focused the nation's attention like never before – in large part because many are inspired by new telephone technology and extreme-stunt shows, such as MTV's Jackass.

Both are having the combined effect of encouraging youths to outdo each other in acts of outrageous behavior, known as "happy slapping," then share it with friends through instant messaging.

Last month, hoodies beat a 16-year-old girl unconscious while recording the attack on a mobile phone and messaging it to their friends. In October, a 41-year-old man who had fallen asleep at a bus stop was permanently disfigured and burned over 22 percent of his body when youths set him on fire in another happy-slap attack. They cited Jackass as their inspiration.

Last week, a 5-year-old boy escaped death after being lured from his yard by young teens who placed a noose around his neck and attempted to hang him. Last month, a 49-year-old man was left brain damaged after he challenged a gang of youths throwing stones at his car, and they beat him into a coma.

"People are rightly fed up with street-corner and shopping-center thugs, yobbish behavior – sometimes from children as young as 10 or 11 whose parents should be looking after them," Mr. Blair declared in a May speech.

Graffiti, vandalism and disorder have turned town centers into "no-go areas for respectable citizens," he added, calling such activity "the work of a very small minority that makes the law-abiding majority afraid and angry." Mr. Blair pledged legislation to get tough with troublemakers and restore a culture of respect.

David Baines, the police chief of Manchester, Britain's second-largest city, complained to reporters that "feral" youths were "running wild" in the streets, "being abusive, swearing, intimidating and causing trouble. ... They don't give a damn about the police or the criminal justice system."

Inspired by 'Jackass'

Delinquency is hardly new in Britain, although Britons are alarmed by the role played by the Internet, television and cellular phone technology in fueling bizarre acts of violence.

But the same technology also is helping police prosecute offenders because youth gangs are posting their crimes on the Internet or sending video copies to their friends by mobile phone.

Graphic video footage of happy-slap attacks, including sound tracks with audible laughter, is posted for public viewing on various U.K. Web sites. Several show gang members initiating attacks on the street or in buses with a slap or a punch to an unsuspecting individual. Frequently, it ends with a full-force kick to the individual's face or head.

In Internet discussion groups, happy slappers have described such attacks as "hilarious" and the "future of entertainment."

Teenagers David Smolinski and Benjamin Mortenson drew their inspiration from Jackass when they used a mobile phone to record an infamous attack they made in October.

"You scruffy tramp," one of the teens said as he encountered Matthew Kitchen, 41, asleep at a bus stop in Bolton, north of Manchester, in October. "This is the funniest thing I've ever heard. ... This guy's gonna burn, and this is going to be on Jackass."

They set Mr. Kitchen on fire and recorded him burning alive. Then they sent the recording to two friends, who notified the police.

In May, a judge sentenced the two to 6 ½ years in prison for assault. Mr. Kitchen, who has no memory of the attack, told reporters he felt the sentence was too lenient. "It's all right for them. They will be out in two or three years, but I will have to live with these scars for life," he said.

Adults fed up

In London, merchants who have witnessed or been victims of crimes by hooded gang members said punishment of children tends to be lenient and prosecutions rare.

Because of a particular problem with hooded gangs, shopping malls in London and Kent have begun banning anyone wearing sweatshirts if the hood covers the person's head. Mall operators say the hoods prevent security cameras from recording the face of people involved in crimes.

"In this country, the kids are protected. They know the law and what they can get away with," said Dee Black, a women's clothing vendor who supports the ban.

"They're always insulting the security guys, using foul language," she said. "If the security guy does anything wrong, he knows he's the one going to jail, not the hoodies."

Tired of police inaction, Manchester schoolteacher Linda Walker used a pellet gun last August to fire a warning shot at teens who had repeatedly harassed her family and, at that moment, were vandalizing her son's car. The teens faced no punishment, but in March Ms. Walker was fired from her job after 25 years of service and received a six-month prison sentence for illegal use of a firearm.

Dinah Morley, a social worker and deputy director of the London-based organization Young Minds, said that rates of criminal delinquency and mental disorders among British youth are rising and that authorities have neglected the problem for too long.

Because both parents tend to hold daytime jobs, at-risk teenagers typically are left unattended after school. Often feeling ignored, children are wearing hoods and provocative clothing, joining gangs and resorting to more violent and outrageous behavior as a means of getting attention, Ms. Morley explained.

"Young people need boundaries. They need to know how far they can go and no further," she said. "If parents are not around to reinforce those boundaries ... then of course those securities disappear for a young person."

Young Minds is a charity devoted to raising public awareness about emotional and behavioral disorders in young people.

Bernard Bartley, a jeweler at London's Elephant & Castle shopping center, ridiculed the ban on hoods recently imposed at the mall, insisting that hoods were a fashion fad and only a symptom of a much deeper problem.

"When I was a kid, I was afraid of doing something wrong because I knew I'd get into trouble. Now, there's absolutely no fear," he said.

"These days, you can't touch the kids [to discipline them], and they know it. It's all about civility," Mr. Bartley added. "The question I have is, are we killing our kids with all this civility?"