Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Animals

Bullying. Not a fond memory from childhood but brought back viscerally by the internet video of a Chicago teenager being beaten that was captured on video this week and posted to YouTube.

The victim was treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital. His attackers have been arrested. One of them, who evidently aspires to a Hollywood career, allowed the camera to capture his face and is 17. He has been charged as an adult. I suspect that may have come as a surprise to his young self. I hope he got an inside view of Cook County jail, if only for a fleeting moment.

Prediction: The parents of these animals will hire good lawyers, the criminal justice system will slap their hands, and they will be allowed to continue in school with merely a reprimand of some kind on their records. That reprimand will not follow them into college, if any of these brainiacs actually make it there.

My suggestion of punishment: mandatory military service for all of them as soon as they are of age, with a posting to the most dangerous war zone available at that time. Fortunately, we'll likely have a few to choose from in the next few years.

End of story.