I am a long long long way away from being a teenager but agreed, bad taste.

It's not just violence here in the UK either which is very worrying. Personally I would never dream of being violent to someone else so it does baffle me.

I am even further from being a teenager but we do live in a strange society.


Violence is never the right way to deal with issues.

Playing devil's advocate, (as I like to do) :

Why is it any worse when a gang (attacking anyone) is made up of females?

Rationalising this "apparent" change in the moralities of the modern world's women to some twee notion that "they've got to stick up for themselves in today's world" is an embarrasingly weak argument, and one, I imagine, abhorent to any self-respecting lady, staunch-feminist or otherwise.

I'm with Chris here - the world is not falling apart - and "humanity" is no worse than it has ever been - in fact, I'd argue (with my limited understanding/appreciation of history) it's in a far better place. The fact is that the frame of reference we view it from has changed, so whilst the majority of us sit back gawping at the horrors of the world unfolding before our very eyes from the comfort of our armchairs (because it makes for "good" news, social commentary and non-prejudicial judgement) there's still a great many things happening today that would never have ever so freely happened before.

It's actually a good thing that we're shocked and find things like that abhorrent. It's a sign we'd like things to be different, and I'm a firm believer that if enough of us think the same way, we'll be the change in the world we want to see (to paraphrase some dead guy).

I think a bit part is, more and more is reported today, through the media, through social networks etc.

My cousin was battered senseless outside the local chippy when I was a kid (he was about 19). He was minding his own business and a group of people beat him to the ground and put the boot in. The family was horrified, but it didn't even make it into the local paper.

Today it would be on social networks, blogged and possibly appear as a clip on YouTube and if it went viral, it might appear on national or international TV.

The ease of reporting means that more crime gets reported, not to the police, but to the public.

Take the two girls who went viral this week, the one dragging the other along the pavement by her hair. The hit prime-time news in Germany! That sort of thing has always happened, but, because only a few drunk people saw it, it never hit the big time, because a group of people filmed it and posted it on YouTube, the world is outraged.