Mob Mentality

A few years ago in Chicago, Illinois, a young man named Derrion Albert was beaten to death by fellow students.  Video of this incident made national news as this young man was punched, kicked, hit with a 2x4, and beat some more when he fell to the ground.  His friends pulled him into a nearby building where he died, and it was all recorded on cell phone video.  There were conflicting stories as to what happened, but one thing on the video is clear; there was a mob of students who fed off each other’s rage.

This week in Dallas, Texas, a similar story was released.  Following the first high school football game of the year, a “mob” of students was recorded on a store surveillance system taking over a convenience store, throwing, destroying, and stealing items.  The lone store clerk attempted to intervene when he was assaulted by a group of these students.  2 young girls pulled him to safety, which very well may have saved his life.  A second story about this same “mob” of students was subsequently released, and detailed how they targeted another young man earlier that evening.  What started as a fight in the stadium spilled out into the street.  This young man was beaten, stomped, punched, and thrown onto the hood of a car, cracking its windshield.  And there were adults around, and thankfully for this child as well, someone intervened before he was seriously harmed. 

As surveillance tapes are reviewed and witnesses come forward, it is likely that many of the involved students are not normally aggressive kids.  Human beings are still animals in a sense and when the pack animal or mob mentality takes over, the results can be tragic; just like when regular citizens fueled by passion and alcohol, riot and destroy cities after their teams win or lose championship games. 

However, this too all starts with parenting.  Attending football games on a Friday night is a big part of the high school experience.  But getting arrested for a felony is not.  Parents need to train their children, and more importantly, either attend the games with them or make sure they are properly supervised.