Teen punishment for Lakeland Florida teen beating?

This whole incident is a sad commentary on our society. Kids no longer know the difference between right and wrong. Moral relativism and situational ethics have really screwed up this country. When this thing does go to trial, some defense lawyer or psychologist will be given prime airtime on CNN, Fox, etc to explain why these animals did what they did and why convicting them isn't the answer. I hope the jury does the right thing and convict, as well as sentence to the maximum.

Regardless of the criminal verdict, I'm sure the civil trial that occurs will give a huge settlement to the victim and her family. I hope it monetarily bankrupts (they are already morally bankrupt) the parents of these animals. Unfortunately, it will take a lot more than money to erase the trauma this girl has suffered.

They should be punished to the full extent of the law for the particular crime(s), especially since the video was made public and could potentially promote other teens to adopt the same type of behavior. The punishment for these kids should be covered extensively in the media, so others can see what kind of consequences such behavior carries.

However, and unfortuntely, you are right. They will likely get off with something less than what they could actually be facing. I hope and pray the parents of this girl have the means and fortitude to pursue the parents of the attackers in civil court for damages. This is where the attackers' parents will view this in a more serious light, and will likely suffer some justly deserved consequences themselves.

Hard to blame bad parenting completly. But I can tell you, as a teenager, one of the reasons I would never have behaved in such a manner was out of fear of the ramification from my parents.

I know what I'm about to say is wrong, but there is a part of me that hopes this little girl has an older, stronger sister or friend who will visit at some point in the future with each of the attackers singularly when there are no witnesses or cameras around. I know that is wrong, but it is very effective if the law won't punish them. They definitely deserve a little of their own medicine. I've seen that make more of an impression than anything else in the past.

I personally think that each one of the teens should be tried as an adult. Then, they could get maximum punishment for their crimes. Looking at up to 2-3 years in prison and a huge restitution payment to the victim. Now, what do I think will happen, they will take a plea agreement and get probation. I don't think that all of the parents need to be blamed in this situation. The system has taken the parenting away from the Mother and Father. I think that the system should have to answer for the failure of their "big plan for parenting". The parents don't even have the right to discipline the children. If they do, the kid goes to the school nurse or teacher, dhs gets involved, parents go to jail. That's some society.

Our kids today have been exposed to sooo many kinds of violent acts that I'm not sure exactly what could be done to reverse the damage. Unfortunately, many parents exhibit this type of bad behavior as well. I think in terms of punishment, I would have to ask the question 'what could happen to them that would make them feel remorse for their actions' ? The sad truth is that they will probably never get that type of punishment. A slap on the wrist, maybe, by the time their lawyers get done!

A second thought I had was that back in my day, and I won't say how long ago that was, teenagers engaged in the same type of premeditated behavior. The only difference between now and then was that there were no video cameras or cell phones to record it on and no Internet to post it on.

It would be wonderful if there was a clear cut answer on how to deal with this problem, for both the kids and the adults!

I think that they should all be charged as adults, simply because of the animalistic nature of the beating. It disgusts me to see that there are people in this world who take pleasure in doing that to someone. Brittany, the main one doing the beating should serve a minimum of 5 years and the other girls should serve at least 2 or 3. The guys could be charged less severely if they were not actually in the house when the beating occurred, but if they were inside the house they should serve at least a year. This is a tough case to make a decision on though just because we don't know enough about the situation. Some of the girls may have been there thinking it was just going to be an arranged fight between 2 girls and then it just got out of hand. Although that is hard to believe I did give it some thought and decided I should give the benefit of the doubt to the victim just because someone should have stepped in or said something once it got out of hand, because that beating is way too disturbing not to bring it to a stop. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Tori, Tori, and the family of the teens being prosecuted. I also pray for the teens being prosecuted and hope they come to a realization that this is AMERICA, a free country we are lucky to live in, and we can't just beat the Sh** out of anyone we want to.

I saw that video. I think the mother who was defending her daughter's actions is part of the problem. I would agree with her if her daughter met the girl on the sidewalk and got into a fistfight one on one, but tricking someone into a house where you have 7 friends with you and you dont let the person leave thats cowardly and very wrongful. I think the kids should get house arrest for at least 3 months and hefty fines so the parents will feel the pain as well. I think parents are responsible for the actions of minors although Im not really sure. Not an attorney here. Oh and also I think the kids' families who were involved should all be candidates for civil suits.

I am absolutely sickened by this video. My stomach turned at the brutality inflicted upon that poor girl. How do children grow into becoming this violent and uncaring? I don’t think we can put 100% of the blame on the parents — during an interview, the victim’s own mother said (not a quote) “you do the best you can, but because you can’t be with them 24/7, you hope their free will is good.” But somewhere along the way, the parents failed in that a basic sense of right from wrong was not instilled. I have teenage sons and I swear watching this video makes me want to cut all the wires in my home.

What really leaves me numb, is that while Paris Hilton decides who will be in her new reality show, and our government tries to fix countries thousands of miles away, our children are being desensitized to the point of cold-hearted, calculated brutality. I’m very sad today. I wish I had never watched it.

This is what I found on the ABC site-

"If convicted of the battery and false imprisonment charges, the teenagers could be sentenced to up to 10 years each in state prison. The additional kidnapping charge three of the teenagers face could earn another 15 years behind bars."

They are asking that 6 of the 7 minors be charged as an adult, one of the "lookouts" was 18 so will be charged as an adult and they aren't asking to try the 14 year old as an adult.

As for how much they actually get who knows. Depends on the Judge and the community outlash. Would be nice if this trial was on court TV but won't be because of the ages.

They need at least 5 years locked up in jail......, but the way our justice systems is, they will probably only get probation. I don't really blame the parenting of these kids for the attack, parents can only bestow good values in their kids, but in today's society the kids are not held accountable for their actions. Look at the two youngest girls in this attack, just because the are 14 and 15, they won't be punished very much. I feel if they are mature enough to beat someone so badly, then they are mature enough to serve time behind bars where all eight of these animals belong..........

Eye for an eye would be nice! Corner each one of them and have six people beat them within inches of their lives! Just kidding. I've heard that they are going to be tried as adults (though I do not remember where), so hopefully they will get the maximum punishment that the state allows for battery. They CLEARLY knew what they were doing. The fact that they wanted to video tape it and publish it makes it that much worse too. I watched the video and it makes me sick. Also, what made me sick was when one of the attacker's mother said that the victim "provoked" them to beat her. I have a feeling if it were her daughter were the victim she'd be signing a different tune stupid woman. Sorry, but sometimes I really HATE the way people act. I hate how people have to look "tough" which is what I think these useless girls were doing. So they have proven that they can gang up and beat up a girl their age, I'd like to see how they'd match up in a real fight HA!