'Happy slapping'

Last night ITV aired a documentary about the disturbing phenomena of ‘happy slapping’. This involves groups of young people, armed with camera phones, traipsing around looking for unsuspecting strangers- for example someone waiting at a bus stop- to slap. The action is then captured on camera and shared by texting and over the Internet. One victim was slapped so hard he suffered permanent damage to his hearing. That victim is from Solihull, down the road from me. Alarmingly, the violence seems to be getting more gratuitous. One man who had fallen asleep at a bus stop was set on fire.

Appropriately, the documentary was aired on the same day the Prime Minister talked about anti-social behaviour, yob culture and responsible parenting. ‘Happy slapping’ is part of the same social malaise. I found it quite worrying that some of the ‘happy slappers’ interviewed had a casual, dismissive, ‘just a laugh’ attitude to this appalling behaviour. Those who set the man at the bus stop on fire were clearly enjoying the experience. I just cannot understand what gives rise to such attitudes in a prosperous, stable country such as the UK. We know that civil war and strife can have a brutalising impact on people, but such is not the situation here. Bad parenting must be part of the problem.

I think mobile phone companies bear a small part of the responsibility. They are constantly churning out new and powerful handsets, marketed particularly at young people and aimed at feeding their desire for objects of vanity. One wonders how many of these youngsters can afford these slick, multi-functional handsets? Again the issue of parental responsibility is relevant.