Teenager Involved in Beating Bailed out by Dr. Phil

When I first heard this story and after getting over the initial shock, I thought how stupid to videotape the beating. But then in comes Dr. Phil who reassures my belief that you can do something stupid even as an adult.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24094441/

I'd be outraged if the beating happened to one of my kids, or if I found out my kid was doing the beating. Maybe I'm being simple-minded, but either way, we're having a sit-down with the other kids parents and working toward a resolution. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't want my kids to NOT fight back IF PROVOKED, but I don't want them involved in fights if they can help it.

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:I'd be outraged if the beating happened to one of my kids, or if I found out my kid was doing the beating. Maybe I'm being simple-minded, but either way, we're having a sit-down with the other kids parents and working toward a resolution. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't want my kids to NOT fight back IF PROVOKED, but I don't want them involved in fights if they can help it.

Exactly, except I'm not so sure these parents would sit down for a nice discussion. From what I heard, out of the 8 teens involved, 6 were bailed out by parents who paid the $30 something thousand bail. Are you kidding me? If my kid was involved in a plot to lure another kid to a house and then gang up on her, I wouldn't be paying her bail if it was $30, let alone $30,000. And I even heard one of the mothers defending her daughter saying the victim had said bad things about her on MySpace. Okay, I guess that justifies it then.

On the other side of the coin, she just took the beating, which is beyond my comprehension too. I realize this all happened fast before she knew what was going on, but sometime during a 30 minute beating, I would think she would come up with a plan. This house was owned by grandparents of one of the teens involved. I would have just started smashing things. Basically, stop or Grandma's vase gets it next.

No shit.

I think after a slap or two I would have grabbed a lamp or something and started swinging.

I may (still) get my ass beat, but some others will certainly not forget me.

Markwes wrote:

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:I'd be outraged if the beating happened to one of my kids, or if I found out my kid was doing the beating. Maybe I'm being simple-minded, but either way, we're having a sit-down with the other kids parents and working toward a resolution. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't want my kids to NOT fight back IF PROVOKED, but I don't want them involved in fights if they can help it.

Exactly, except I'm not so sure these parents would sit down for a nice discussion. From what I heard, out of the 8 teens involved, 6 were bailed out by parents who paid the $30 something thousand bail. Are you kidding me? If my kid was involved in a plot to lure another kid to a house and then gang up on her, I wouldn't be paying her bail if it was $30, let alone $30,000. And I even heard one of the mothers defending her daughter saying the victim had said bad things about her on MySpace. Okay, I guess that justifies it then.

On the other side of the coin, she just took the beating, which is beyond my comprehension too. I realize this all happened fast before she knew what was going on, but sometime during a 30 minute beating, I would think she would come up with a plan. This house was owned by grandparents of one of the teens involved. I would have just started smashing things. Basically, stop or Grandma's vase gets it next.

Definitely agree with you on the bail part. Funny how quickly a lesson can be learned from behind bars without having mommy or daddy come bail you out. Now, I probably wouldn't let them rot in jail for long (if I had that kind of disposable money), but I wouldn't be coming to their rescue right away either.

Funny, I'm going to have to watch my youngest one though...She's 2 and wanted something her older sister had, so she tried taking the toy away and when that wasn't working too well, the 2 year old opened her mouth and bit the other one's shoulder. That quickly earned the 2 year old a 'tap' on the butt and a timeout session on the stairs.

I wonder if any of the girls in the story got put in timeout when they were growing up?

Oliver's Army wrote:No shit.

I think after a slap or two I would have grabbed a lamp or something and started swinging.

I may (still) get my ass beat, but some others will certainly not forget me.

Yeah, and hopefully the others will have some explaining to do about the black eye, puffy lip, etc. that I'd be 'trying' to give them.

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:Definitely agree with you on the bail part. Funny how quickly a lesson can be learned from behind bars without having mommy or daddy come bail you out. Now, I probably wouldn't let them rot in jail for long (if I had that kind of disposable money), but I wouldn't be coming to their rescue right away either.

Funny, I'm going to have to watch my youngest one though...She's 2 and wanted something her older sister had, so she tried taking the toy away and when that wasn't working too well, the 2 year old opened her mouth and bit the other one's shoulder. That quickly earned the 2 year old a 'tap' on the butt and a timeout session on the stairs.

I wonder if any of the girls in the story got put in timeout when they were growing up?

Agree as well the rotting in Jail. I'd wait until the first wave of parent's came in and got their kids, then let my kid sweat it out for at least a day, maybe two. During which time I install a hidden camera in the car... that conversation on the ride home would be a keeper.

Is there video of this attack somewhere on the internet? I want to vomit within 5 minutes of watching Fox or CNN so I haven't seen the entire clip (if it was ever shown). I can understand how the girl might be intimidated by so many people, what were there 2 boys out side and 6 girls inside doing the beating, with one extra holding the camera or am I counting too many?

I'm sure we'll never know, but I'd sure like to know if at any time during the beating, did the thought, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't be doing this" or "This is wrong" go thru the girls' heads?

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:I'm sure we'll never know, but I'd sure like to know if at any time during the beating, did the thought, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't be doing this" or "This is wrong" go thru the girls' heads?

You never know. I guess I don't doubt that there are more people with less of a conscience today than when I was younger. Not sure why I feel that way, but I do. On the other hand, I try to never underestimate the potential to generate mass quantities of stupidity when people get into groups.

Actually when I was a freshman in high school something similar happened to me. I wasn't a big kid in High School by any means. There was 1 main instigator, 2 supporters, and 2 bystanders. It happened in the boys bathroom at school, just after the last bell of the day. The one kid, "Ricky" was trying to give me a swirlie but I wasn't having any part of that! I got my head slammed in a bathroom stall door, that was the worst of it. Unlike this girl's situation once I started to fight back I connected a few times with the supporters and they backed off... Then, I guess then the instigator decided this couldn't go on very long without getting really ugly. I'd say the whole thing was over within 2 minutes and nobody said anything about it after that.

meta4 wrote:

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:I'm sure we'll never know, but I'd sure like to know if at any time during the beating, did the thought, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't be doing this" or "This is wrong" go thru the girls' heads?

You never know. Actually when I was a freshman in high school something similar happened to me. I wasn't a big kid in High School by any means. There was 1 main instigator, 2 supporters, and 2 bystanders. It happened in the boys bathroom at school, just after the last bell of the day. The one kid, "Ricky" was trying to give me a swirlie but I wasn't having any part of that! I got my head slammed in a bathroom stall door, that was the worst of it. Unlike this girl's situation once I started to fight back I connected a few times with the supporters and they backed off... Then, I guess then the instigator decided this couldn't go on very long without getting really ugly. I'd say the whole thing was over within 2 minutes and nobody said anything about it after that.

Wow, I wish I would've had your guts. Betcha they didn't try to give you a swirlie after that, did they?

Cincy Fan 44 wrote:Wow, I wish I would've had your guts. Betcha they didn't try to give you a swirlie after that, did they?

I remember thinking something like I don't want to break my nose and look like "That Guy" for the rest of my life or break an arm like my brother (casts stink after a while). Or get some teeth knocked out, etc. The rest of the year there was only one guy who tried to mess with me and that was nothing more than a couple of shoves in the hallway between class changes.

meta4 wrote:Is there video of this attack somewhere on the internet? I want to vomit within 5 minutes of watching Fox or CNN so I haven't seen the entire clip (if it was ever shown). I can understand how the girl might be intimidated by so many people, what were there 2 boys out side and 6 girls inside doing the beating, with one extra holding the camera or am I counting too many?

I haven't seen the entire clip either - not sure what website I saw it on, but it mentioned that they left out the more brutal parts. Maybe it's just me but maybe the most disturbing part is the girl you can hear in the background saying "Watch the shelves" to the girl doing the beating. 'cause we wouldn't want to break anything while beating someone unconcious.

Friday night Bill Maher showed the clip on his show on HBO and I usually agree with Bill on most issues but he thought the police were out of line for arresting these girls for "beating" up this other chick for saying bad things about them on myspace. I was surprised by Bill's position on this topic, I guess he must have been a bully in high school.

Here you go... I'm not puttingthe other vid on here cause it made me sick.

If my daughter/kid were the one getting lured in and I heard another parent say she deserved it because of something on myspace I'd be in jail for giving the parents a real beating, and my bail would be for more than $30K and I'd be going away for a long time. My guess is the parent in question came from a trailer and taught her daughter "not to take no shit from anyone, you're just as good as all them thar others".

My boss has a good saying.. come after me all you want, I can handle it. Come after my kids and I'll bring down a shit storm on you the likes of which you've never seen.

If my daughter were the one doing the beating she'd be in jail and no one from my house would be bailing her ass out. If you're that stupid I clearly failed as a parent and need to let someone else teach you a lesson.

I was wondering why the girl didn't fight back, but I think there were a couple guys there also, she was probably scared that if she fought back they'd all jump in on her. Still.. I'm with Meta.. if someone jumps me I'm fighting back regardless. We'll find out if your friends want to fight as much as I do.

From what I understand there were 6 inside and 2 boys outside. Early in the beating she was beat unconscious and suffered hearing loss and eye damage. I'm guessing she probably wasn't thinking that clearly. As the victim of a home invasion where three men kicked in our door and held us at gun point while robbing us... I layed there and kept my eyes closed just as I was told. In my imagination I fought back but in reality those moments were in slow motion and your mind sorts out the most realistic (hopefully) chance at survival. Many years ago I was jumped by two guys and focused on fighting back toward one... smashed his head against a wall and while his buddy went to his aid I ran like maniac as fast and far as I could. Every situation is different, keep in mind that girls are not raised to react violently so I doubt aggression was her first thought... it looks like she tries to leave the house several times.

cardinal5150 wrote:If my daughter/kid were the one getting lured in and I heard another parent say she deserved it because of something on myspace I'd be in jail for giving the parents a real beating, and my bail would be for more than $30K and I'd be going away for a long time. My guess is the parent in question came from a trailer and taught her daughter "not to take no shit from anyone, you're just as good as all them thar others".

My boss has a good saying.. come after me all you want, I can handle it. Come after my kids and I'll bring down a shit storm on you the likes of which you've never seen.

If my daughter were the one doing the beating she'd be in jail and no one from my house would be bailing her ass out. If you're that stupid I clearly failed as a parent and need to let someone else teach you a lesson.

I was wondering why the girl didn't fight back, but I think there were a couple guys there also, she was probably scared that if she fought back they'd all jump in on her. Still.. I'm with Meta.. if someone jumps me I'm fighting back regardless. We'll find out if your friends want to fight as much as I do.

Ya know Card, I just want to say for the record, I consider myself a better lover than a fighter, and there's a huge separation between the two. I hate conflict, love peace, but I don't take *hit from anybody, and I think I've learned to choose my battles wisely. I'd agree with you that if I was aware that other parents were telling their kids to kick my kids *ss, I'd have to have some good people around me talking me out of kicking their teeth in.

My dad, told my brothers and I when we were young (like maybe 5th grade or so) that we'd be stupid to start fights. He said, "You don't want to be the one that starts the fight, you want to be the one that finishes it. But, you don't want to go to jail for a fool." He also said, "Never hit a lady, but ladies don't hit. If you need to defend yourself, you should no matter who you need to defend against." And "It's better to be the peace keeper, and only if necessary the peace maker, but, never start *hit you aren't willing and able to finish."

That said I want to ask, do you have any children?

I'll say one thing about Jail because I have a close family member who's got in some trouble when he was younger. It sucks. And I always wonder if he'd been better off not to have seen prison or gone through the system. If it was my daughter, and If I could invest 30 G's on a slightly early release, I would only do it with the hopes that she would know that I'd be there for her no matter what, and hopefully save her from associating or developing commonality with the rest of the trash that floats through there. Even if she was stupid enough to get involved with the wrong people and not see the trouble she might be getting herself into when she got caught doing something completely stupid. If she was already a problem, then yeah, I'd consider letting her sit for a while. From what it sounded like (I watched the Judge explain the early release conditions) it would have been more of a hassle on the parents to take her home than to leave her there in lockup. I just think that the criminal justice system does not have a priority for rehabilitation, and that's probably best done at home, if it can be done at all.

Exactly, except I'm not so sure these parents would sit down for a nice discussion. From what I heard, out of the 8 teens involved, 6 were bailed out by parents who paid the $30 something thousand bail. Are you kidding me? If my kid was involved in a plot to lure another kid to a house and then gang up on her, I wouldn't be paying her bail if it was $30, let alone $30,000. And I even heard one of the mothers defending her daughter saying the victim had said bad things about her on MySpace. Okay, I guess that justifies it then. QUOTING from...

I think I may have missed something. The article that I read about the girl he bailed out was not one of the cheerleader beaters. This was a different video taped fight and I believe that it was 2 on 1 girls. I would try to find the article but I visit and read from A LOT of sites and could begin to remember where I saw it.

When someones bail is set at $30,000, aren't they only requried to pay something like 10% of that? I've heard this before but I don't have any experience first or second hand in the situation.

IrishGuy wrote:When someones bail is set at $30,000, aren't they only requried to pay something like 10% of that? I've heard this before but I don't have any experience first or second hand in the situation.

I've read and heard about that too. And like you, not from any first or second experience...

iberlingirl wrote:I think I may have missed something. The article that I read about the girl he bailed out was not one of the cheerleader beaters. This was a different video taped fight and I believe that it was 2 on 1 girls. I would try to find the article but I visit and read from A LOT of sites and could begin to remember where I saw it.

Nope it was the 8 on 1:

A new chapter in Dr. Phil’s publicity crisis was written over the weekend, and some sources close to the show wonder whether he’ll survive his latest stunt. The host and his show is under scrutiny for posting $30,000 bail for Mercedes Nichols, one of the eight teens arrested for severely beating another teenager in Florida.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24096960/

Our sources say the production assistant (Mikey) who flaunted his "exclusive" with Mercades Nichols outside court, along with a female producer, went to the bail bondsman and made it clear they were representing the show. They posted $3,300 bail -- 10% of the total amount.

The show claims the producers exceeded their authority. We're guessing Mikey -- who makes around $800 a week -- didn't personally pay that kind of jack.

We've also learned the show did not post collateral for the entire $33,000 -- someone not connected with the show did that.

http://www.tmz.com/2008/04/14/dr-phils-peeps-to-bondsman-we-work-for-him/

Not sure why this is, I also read that Dr Phil owns the rights to the story. There is a lot that I like about Dr Phil, but I get the impression that he will somehow make this more a money making thing than a helping thing.

I heard Dr Phil made $190M last year... that's nuts. All he does is tell people they're stupid.

meta4 wrote:

That said I want to ask, do you have any children?

Yes.. I have a daughter.

I've been headed down the path for jail myself, I've seen how much you DON'T want to go there, even if it's just for a couple hours in the drunk tank (no.. that's not where i was). I truly have no desire to ever be in jail, and I was raised just like you were, never start, be prepared to finish if you do, etc.

And that's how I plan to raise my daughter, which is why I said if she were involved in this, clearly I failed miserably as a parent and someone else needs to do the job I wasn't capable of performing. As for the other parents, I agree with my bosses sentiments. I can handle a lot, but don't mess with my kids. Once you do that I lose all rational thought.

I watched some of the video, and have to admit that sadism among teen girls is greater than any that I experienced as a teen boy. It used to be that if you had to beat the crap out of someone, those involved stood in the middle of a circle and had it out while other watched, and there was an unspoken code that you didnt interfere if it wasnt your fight. It's been a while since I thought about such things... But anyone who had their friends help them beat someone up was a pu**y.

As I understand it, the girl was accused of saying bad things about one or more of the other girls on myspace, and they were videotaping the beating (presumably) to post the video on myspace. It crazes me to see young attractive teens spending time on this kind of sh**. So they beat this girl up and because they would not let her leave, they are facing kidnapping charges... glad they proved their point... I bet that little slut never says anything bad about them on myspace again. (insert smiley that suggests a heavy sigh signifying the futility and sheer stupidity of this situation).

I joined my space a Few years ago to talk racism with on gimme's group.... I have to admit that with very few exceptions, there has never been a larger or faster growing tome of young amereican stupidity. Seriously, watch any myspace video and read the comments...