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ELECTRIC NEWS
Are our youth becoming a 'jackass' nation'?
By Elysa Chen and Bryna Sim
July 30, 2010
IS THE easy use of video phones making some young people come up with cruel pranks like the MTV show Jackass?
That seems to be the case, going by two videos posted this month - one on bilingual news and interactive web portal omy.sg and another on citizen journalism website Stomp.
The 25-second video on omy.sg shows a male student being dangled over a parapet by his schoolmates. At one point, only one of his limbs is being held by his schoolmates.
The video on Stomp, posted on July 9, shows one student hitting his classmate viciously with a broom at least six times.
Psychologist Daniel Koh has noticed this worrying trend of silly, dangerous pranks among young people.
"Teenagers are trying to get themselves seen online. Armed with their technological gadgets, it's so easy to do so. They get so caught up with this that they don't care about their safety sometimes," said Mr Koh, 38, from Insights Mind Centre. "They are really playing it up for the camera. It's thoughtless, sad, and cruel."
Ms Vanessa von Auer, clinic director and psychologist at the VA Psychology Centre, felt that the video depicted a scene of peer pressure.
"The boy (who was dangled over the parapet) did seem to show hesitation and understanding of the dangers involved. As I watched it, all the terrible things that could have happened to this boy and others around him flashed before my eyes," she said.
Are our youth becoming a 'jackass' nation'?
By Elysa Chen and Bryna Sim
July 30, 2010
IS THE easy use of video phones making some young people come up with cruel pranks like the MTV show Jackass?
That seems to be the case, going by two videos posted this month - one on bilingual news and interactive web portal omy.sg and another on citizen journalism website Stomp.
The 25-second video on omy.sg shows a male student being dangled over a parapet by his schoolmates. At one point, only one of his limbs is being held by his schoolmates.
The video on Stomp, posted on July 9, shows one student hitting his classmate viciously with a broom at least six times.
Psychologist Daniel Koh has noticed this worrying trend of silly, dangerous pranks among young people.
"Teenagers are trying to get themselves seen online. Armed with their technological gadgets, it's so easy to do so. They get so caught up with this that they don't care about their safety sometimes," said Mr Koh, 38, from Insights Mind Centre. "They are really playing it up for the camera. It's thoughtless, sad, and cruel."
Ms Vanessa von Auer, clinic director and psychologist at the VA Psychology Centre, felt that the video depicted a scene of peer pressure.
"The boy (who was dangled over the parapet) did seem to show hesitation and understanding of the dangers involved. As I watched it, all the terrible things that could have happened to this boy and others around him flashed before my eyes," she said.