Girl Giggles As Bail Set In Video Beating

[The Straight Story]

Girl Giggles As Bail Set In Video Beating
Teens Must Avoid Social Networking Sites

BARTOW, Fla. -- One of eight teens accused of taking part in the notorious videotaped "animalistic" beating of another Central Florida teen snickered while a judge issued bail on Friday.

April Cooper, 14, giggled and attempted to hold in her laughter as she was told that she was being held on $36,000 bond, Local 6 News reported. It's not known why Cooper giggled.

A judge set bails ranging from $30,000 to $37,000 for each during their first court appearances.


They also were ordered to stay away from their high school and Internet social networking sites, such as MySpace. The judge also ordered them not to have any contact with the victim or each other.

The accused range in age from 14 to 18. The state attorney's office said all will be tried as adults on charges that include kidnapping.

http://www.local6.com/news/15858832/detail.html

[DS1]

1. Probably thinks Mommy and Daddy can get her out of this one, too

[readmoreoften]

2. could be nerves or hysteria. you never know.

[Eric J in MN]

3. It's almost as if a 14 year old isn't actually adult and doesn't understand...

...her situation.

[The Straight Story]

5. Yeah, but 12 yr olds can get birth control pills at school

go figure :)

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

17. Thank you!

The many of same people here who think 14yo's are mature enough to pick a sexual partner dont think they are mature enough to know gang beatings are wrong..

[uppityperson]

34. If a 14 yr old is going to have sex, I'd like her to be on birth control pills

unless they are medically wrong for her. But then I'm not one of those that believe knowing about contraception, and having access to contraception, encourages sexually active kids to be sexually active. I'd rather prevent pregnancy in sexually active kids than not.

[madinmaryland]

19. Where's that? Of course they can easily get guns to bring in..

:grr: and :wtf:

[The Straight Story]

22. See previous DU threads on it

The point is - if they are responsible enough to have authority over their own bodies then maybe that should extend to other things they do with their bodies - like beating other people.

[Lars39]

24. A 14 yo is not known for consistency in judgement.

Sure there are precocious exceptions, but for the most part 14 year olds are all over the place when it comes to making decisions.

[The Straight Story]

26. So should a parent be able to tell a young teen to have an abortion

etc and so on?

At what point is a teens' body their own? When they have an abortion or when they use their own body to beat someone else up?

[U4ikLefty]

29. I cannot believe you are trying to equate an assault with

the right for a young woman to choose.

[Lars39]

31. Looks like he saw a chance to get in an anti-choice statement

and ran with it.

[madinmaryland]

33. What concerns me is

that the OP is trying to correlate to UNRELATED issues.

[The Straight Story]

46. The issues are related

It is about people being able to make decisions about what they do with their bodies - and if we state they are old enough to do so for X than why isn't Y also valid?

Their body, smart enough to make choices. In one venue it is a medical issue, in the other it is using your body to harm someone else's.

I am not being anti-choice, I am pro-choice as I think at that age teens do have enough sense to control their bodies and what they have done to them or use them for.

We give them adult level control on some things, but why not others? If we think they are not mature enough to do one thing, why do we think are another and where do we draw the line (and why)?

Once more - the issues, to me, are related - the events and actions may be worlds apart, but the underlying issue cuts through both.

[The Straight Story]

47. Um, how was what I said anti-choice?

See my post below for my clarification.

[madinmaryland]

30. Are you advocating parents forcing their kids to have abortions or

for them to have abortions without consenting with their parents, or for the parents to suggest them to have abortions.

You're confusing me.

[madinmaryland]

27. I guess I missed the leap between beating and teenage pregnancy.

Sorry, but they are really two separate issues. One is a biological issue, and the other is abject violence.

I don't know who you are, but I assume you teach your daughter about things in life, including the things you mentioned in your post.

:shrug:

[uppityperson]

37. Sometimes assuming things gets one into trouble.

[Lars39]

20. So...a 12 yo should be "punished" with pregnancy and a child?

:shrug:

[The Straight Story]

23. see post #19 (nt)

[uppityperson]

36. How does "Where's that? Of course they can easily get guns to bring in.." answer this...

"So...a 12 yo should be "punished" with pregnancy and a child?"

[madinmaryland]

28. #19 is confused by #23 also.

:shrug:

[uppityperson]

35. So you'd rather have sexually active kids get pregnant?

If they are going to be sexually active, I'd rather have them have access to contraception than get pregnant. But hey, that's just me.

[eShirl]

40. thank goodness

[JI7]

15. i knew at 14 not to do what she did. at 14 i was supporting abortion rights

gay rights and other causes.

[EFerrari]

4. People often giggle or laugh when they're stressed out.

That accounts for at least half of the laughs stand ups get. :shrug:

[The Straight Story]

6. I'd reply but I am laughing right now

;)

[Life Long Dem]

45. Yeah. My first reaction was, what the hell is she giggling about?

And she tried to hold it in. Then it made me think if she didn't sleep all night or since it happened she could be setting off emotions that she can't control and add stress to this and you wouldn't know exactly what went through her mind.

I wouldn't make too much of the giggling. They all will get what they deserve. Some probably didn't participate but were there and so on.

[orleans]

7. did she make bail? or is she sleeping in juvie hall tonight? n/t

[bluestateguy]

8. 20 years in prison will make her laugh right quick

No college! No future!!

[Caria]

9. VERY common anxiety response in children

Some adults too, though most outgrow by their mid-twenties.

I've heard that it is a learned response in toddlers - they deflect adults' irritation & anger by giggling and looking cute. Soon it becomes such an automatic response to stress that they can't control it any more.

[alarimer]

10. Now Bill Maher is saying these girls shouldn't even be tried.

He said, basically, she had it coming. Sick asshole.

[Roxy66]

11. He is a mother fucker...it's all about shock entertainment.

[OwnedByFerrets]

12. I stopped watching him three weeks ago.......

now I am even more glad of my decision.

[Guaranteed]

14. That kind of shit makes me sick. nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

32. His entire shtick is about being some sort of "iconoclast"

One of those a-holes who take a contrary position to get attention, and then
attempt to backfill it with bad logic, false comparisons, self-righteousness,
and misdirection. He's a grandstanding jackass.

[DCKit]

38. Did he mean that, or is that the way you chose to hear it?

Granted, he's a total DICK, but I haven't watched the show yet and I'll keep your view in mind when I do, but I don't think he'd step over that line and, if he has, I'll be more than happy to send an email strongly condemning his murder of a million Iraqi civilia.... er, his blaming the victim. Seriously.

Just looking at the mugshots of those depraved kids sucked part of my soul out.

[spoony]

42. I'm just amazed he can pull himself out of the

grotto at the Playboy Mansion long enough to do a show every week.

Personally I don't take anyone seriously who hangs out with Ann Coulter.

[Guaranteed]

13. Because that's the only skill she has to deal with things.

That, and, oh yeah, beating the crap out of people.

Awesome!

[NCDem60]

18. Cart before the horse

"I'm just pissed that the judge didn't demand that every one of those punks be unable to go anywhere without constant adult supervision (meaning an escort approved by the court) until they are 18."


You can't be sentenced until you are convicted. Hopefully they won't be going anywhere for a long time with or without adult supervision.

[kevinbgoode]

16. They should throw the parents in the slammer as well. . .

just long enough for them to figure out that they are still responsible for the actions of their children.

I'm just pissed that the judge didn't demand that every one of those punks be unable to go anywhere without constant adult supervision (meaning an escort approved by the court) until they are 18.

[The Straight Story]

25. Hmmm

"just long enough for them to figure out that they are still responsible for the actions of their children"

There's a can of worms to be opened up indeed. From sex/abortions/sex ed/ to religion/et al.

When do these kids have responsibility over themselves and their actions? And what can parents do/should do, in the meantime?

[tomreedtoon]

41. Well, for one thing, parents might TALK with their kids.

If the parents didn't assume that their kids are accessories that are self-sufficient once they learn how to use the toilet, they might have ingrained them with a sense of right and wrong.

I'm not talking about "religious" training or anything like that. I'm talking about them talking with the kids. Trying to see what in life is bothering them and offering some suggestions. And if the kids do wrong, deliberately, levying reasonable punishment.

If that's too much work for them, they shouldn't have become parents in the first place. And they should have been told that by THEIR parents.

Now the only hope is to throw the parents in prison for life, and throwing their sick little monkeys into mental asylums for life. No parole for either. No "psychiatric cures." They are all unsalvageable wrecks.

[backscatter712]

21. Teenage psychopath.

Just like George Bush or Dick Cheney or Ted Bundy - a psychopath.

No conscience, no sense of shame, doesn't feel an ounce of empathy for the girl that got beat up.

I don't care if she's 14. She's already beyond help. Lock that animal in prison for life and throw away the key.

[Marr]

39. Her idiotic response shouldn't be surprising.

She's an idiot.

I haven't got much sympathy for these junior thugs. They're interesting only in that they could be seen as signs of our times. Racist attacks on blacks went up during the administration of Woodrow Wilson (an admitted white supremacist), and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that bullies have become more bold in our present environment.

[Juche]

43. She is 14

What does anyone expect. Pretty soon we will try retarded 11 year olds as adults.

[JI7]

44. she isn't retarded , and most 14 year olds know what she did was wrong

as she did but she did it anyways for personal selfish reasons.