Happy Slapping
by Tom Whitehead-Clarke
First there was violence. Then CCTV cameras were invented to stop the violence. These CCTV cameras were not kept properly... and so became a lot like an inflatable dart-board... not useful. As a result, people felt as though they needed their own recording equipment to make the violence justified... and so, "happy slapping" was born!
Happy slapping becoming increasingly widespread
It's a unique concept whereby people hurt each other and record it on camera phones so they can savour the memories. Now, I'm not talking about little slaps on your mates, I'm talking about when it escalates into persistent tormenting and bullying where kids are actually quite seriously hurt. Things like this are becoming progressively widespread across London and the rest of the country, and something has to be done about it.
At times, happy slapping reaches almost ridiculous levels, like the happy slap I saw with a guy hitting his mate around the head with a SPADE! (Now that's what I call Ground Force!) In a quote from the Guardian website, another incident was described: "In one video, 'Bank Job', a teenager is seen assaulting a hole-in-the-wall customer while another youth grabs the money he has just withdrawn from the cash machine." Surely something has to be done about a craze that escalates to serious violence and robbery?
Attacking complete strangers
Recently, the idea of happy slapping has got far worse, with people actually attacking complete strangers on buses. Some of the people attacked have been no more than old men and women, yet some people around London are still sick enough in the head to take pleasure from attacking them. A lot of people are blaming video games, or the youth culture. Personally, I blame You've Been Framed - surely a TV show full of people recording the pain and misfortune of others puts ideas into people's heads?
So, if you really feel the need to record some violence, don't hit old ladies with garden tools. Try setting up your own hilarious incident and get the folks at ITV to send you £250 for your trouble. Also, if anyone shows you happy slapping on their phone, simply look at them disapprovingly with a 'tsk tsk' sound and walk away... because after all, it's not funny!
Creating a bad reputation for young people
If nothing else, the most worrying thought about the entire craze is the kind of reputation being built up around young people across the country. Because of things like this, young people are becoming the subject of a media campaign to make it sound as though we're all out crazily assaulting each other. Things like happy slapping are the reasons why the youth of today is not trust by the older generations, which then leads to banning of hoodies, as well as curfews and other ideas brought into government legislation. The only way to put a stop to this is to knock it on the head, and stop the madness!
So remember, if you feel tempted to grab your spade and your phone and go out for a while clobbering strangers on buses, or bullying other kids in the playground, please try to resist the urge - grab that spade and plant some roses... Alan Titchmarsh would be proud! Also, if you see recording of violence on a mate's phone, don't be scared to confront them about it, after all, it's the only way we can solve the problem.
Cheers.
*Originally published in Youth Unlimited magazine, issue 2b.