Talk:Happy slapping

David Morley inaccuracies
The killing of David Morley is reported twice in the list of incidents, and one mention describes him as 27, while the other says he was 29. The story also appears in the book "The Pirate's Dilemma," which lists his age as 37. We ought to have his correct age, and mention his killing just once in the list. 144.142.3.200 (talk) 18:02, 28 April 2008 (UTC) giles bowkett

Speculation on crimes?

 * Sweden, September 1, 2006: After a 16-year-old African boy hospitalizes a 15-year-old Balkan boy in the city of Örebro, the latter's 17-year-old sister stabs and kills the former with a hunting knife and claims self-defense, which is unlikely. The sister probably killed her brother's assailant as revenge for the embarrassment. The killing is filmed and distributed online. The 15-year old boy was happy slapped, and the video spread online. [1][this source's reliability may need verification] [2]

I don't know your rules very well, but I'd guess that Wikipedia probably should avoid having articles stating that a living person "probably" killed someone and that their defense plea is "unlikely"(if nothing else, because it's original "research"). 84.48.89.112 00:38, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Questionable Links
I believe some of the links posted with this article are quite questionable, but am not familiar enough with wikipedia policy to be comfortable removing them myself. Does anyone else find that these are not "encyclopedic" links, especially the one to the "snufffilms.com" page? --LegendX

Happy slapping, highly questionable swedish examples
The swedish incidents reported are not happy slapping. Happy slapping is unmotivated violence against a randomly chosen and unpredicting victim. The Swedish examples are political violence where left wing fight right wing groups. A movie of an incident like that is not a happy slapping clip, it could either be a journalistic work or a political propaganda movie. I am living in sweden and I have never heard about those specific incidents either, i searched the expressen (a leading tabloid) news archive for the skinhead/subway station feature but it was not there. I think the whole section should be taken out because this is not "happy slapping" nor verifyable. Odd Jönsson 19:26, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Miscelaneus questions
Hi, This is a pretty poor article as it stands - as far as I can see from google this is because there is nothing substantial known about the phenomenon, bar a vague sense of media outrage. The news articles I read were vague and often wrong, and I wouldn't trust them as sources. The current history section seems to be wrong - St Wilfrids hit the headlines after a child was taken out by his parents after happy-slapping bullying, (http://www.southtynesidetoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1111&ArticleID=1042037) but I can't see any evidence that the craze originated there. I saw several claims that it originated in the UK garage scene, (http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/26/happy-slapping-increasingly-slap-happy/) but I'm not sure how trustworthy these are - I'll stick it in anyway. (incidentally, should this be at the top? Or shoudl I stick it at the bottom? I'm a very irregular contributor...) Inebriatedonkey 10:17, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Happy Slapping is a serious issue faced by schools and teachers in the UK and other countries, the light hearted approach of some of the editors on this page is a shame to Wikipedia

But then again the people working agianst Happy Slapping are mostly female public sector workers in unions; Wikipedia has been taken over by a group of male IT workers in the private sector who are forming it in to their own interests alone, including dozens of pages on the Klingon language, and very little of aid to people working in the public sector and education.

I will work to alter this a bit, but I have little hope.

Krast0r 22:25, 10 Aug 2005 (UTC) I have edited the part of the page saying "group of teenagers" to "group of people" as it is not neccesarily teenagers that commit this crime. The crime isn't different when an adult does it than from when a teenager does it and i believe using the word "teenagers" is fairly offensive, although admittedly it is more common for the criminals to be teenagers.

---

This is the current media hype of the moment - this needs stating somewhere. I'm interested that it has been equated with the chav stereotype - around here it has been equated solely with the young black male stereotype. I hope "garage music scene" isn't code for young black people. The BBC article linked to says that victim support don't know whether it exists or not. If every happy slapping crime gets reported in the tabloids then it becomes a wave doesn't it? Is there a correlation between number of incidents and number of column inches? Like the aforementioned chavs these stories of the behaviour of unknown others create fear of crime and fear of teenage folk devils. Secretlondon 22:20, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I totally agree that happy slapping is wrong. People who are found doing any such thing should be punished. However I do not believe it has come from people in 'the garage music scene'. Myself and many friends of mine are from that scene,we are all age 17-20 and not one of us think happy slapping is a laughing matter. It doesn't have antthing to do with music, the people that do it are probally bored or just have no respect for anyone.
 * (that message was by 80.4.187.123. --bjh21 17:20, 20 May 2005 (UTC))

"Happy slapping is the criminal act of slapping or striking a stranger" "The criminal act of" - That is slightely misleading. Although common assault, of which happy slapping is a form of, is a criminal offence, there's no specific crime of attacking someone for fun, contrary to what "is the criminal act of" implies.

Note, eg, that honour killing is not decribed on this site as "the criminal act of killing a female relative thought to have brought dishonour on the family etc", but "the practice of a family member killing a female relative..."; there is a seperate sentence which explains that it is murder.

Thus I suggest that the opening paragraph is changed along this lines.

-Dan, --163.1.167.63 00:01, 21 May 2005 (UTC)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tangoed

Most of the examples aren't "Happy Slapping"
It looks to me like most of the examples are just general examples of violence. They don't meet the requirements whereby something should be considered "Happy Slapping," at all. Ed Sanville 13:56, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

LOL MORE RUBBISH
'Happy Slapping' is by far the worst criminal act in the 20th century; Curse the idiot that broadcasted it on T.V and subjected it to young infants and teenagers. The probable cause for this is probably the incompetance of young teens, today. This century's growth and maturity is becoming more and more 'Obscene'. To date, 'Happy Slapping' has stormed the country and mostly the world. The idiot that broadcasted 'Happy Slapping' on national television just embedded the nationiuouijkoljkl;jj16, 2005 (UTC)

IAM BACK
THANX for replying sir, yes this is me the LOL MORE RUBBISH article was done by me, and for your viewing pleasure here is my nickname LEXX24187@yahoo.co.uk

jUST IN CASE ANYONE HAS ANY ENQUIRIES THANX BYE!!!


 * (The above message was also written by User:217.33.82.4.) --Ardonik.talk* 07:11, August 16, 2005 (UTC)

aye
aye larmour i agree it's pile of crap. although i am one of the luckier people who hasn't been 'happy' slapped yet.

who the hell was i who thought f the name "happy slapping" it's not somethin that makes you ahppy it put's you through pain not happiness. just shows it must have been a chav that thought of this new craze. what a pile of poo like.

please write back


 * (The above message was written by User:Damageplanner.) --Ardonik.talk* 07:11, August 16, 2005 (UTC)

DAMN RIGHT!
I totally agree sam, who did make up the name 'Happy Slapping' anyway. Its a big pile of dung if you ask me.


 * (The above message was again written by User:217.33.82.4.) --Ardonik.talk* 07:11, August 16, 2005 (UTC)

Cleanup
For obvious reasons. --^pirate 17:42, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
 * What are these obvious reasons?, I consider this article alright, only needs more deveploment.-- Atenea26 20:15, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Added Info
Hi,

I added the info on the Belgian Happy Slapping-cases. Also, I made a page about Telefacts, and linked Happy Slapping to it.

Message written by Super0072

Chav Culture
Is there any link between happy slapping and Chav/Scally/Asbo culture?

I see no mention of chavs or asbo in the article, perhaps someone should check this out.

Tefalt?
Under "see more" it says Tefalt, but its a dead link, and there's nothing on google for it either. It will be removed.

Slap
reworded opening paragraph

unnamedculprit 17:18, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

chavs
Its chav culture to do crazy stuff and this aint all that suprising

Saw this news item; it may be useful. (Appallingly stupid fad.)

 * deeceevoice 18:08, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Not Happy Slapping
Alot of the media reports here were obviously not happy slapping.In particular the one about a nazi skinhead getting beaten up.That was a politically motivated crime.Happy Slapping is violence for the sake of amusement

I agree, see above. Ed Sanville 13:54, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

The gun factor
I would say that the fad started in Britain, where guns are outlawed. The slappers can act with impunity here as they know their victim will be unarmed. Surely this makes a huge factor.
 * the "slappers" act with impunity because any attempt the victim makes to defend themself physically (or mete out any revenge later on) will typically result in a criminal record for the victim. The gun issue is irrelevant; in fact there was a case of a female teacher receiving a 6 month prison sentence and total ruination of her career after firing an *air* pistol not at but *in front* of the feet of chavs who had been making her life a misery...  such is the stupidity of British Law. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.188.104.198 (talk) 15:11, 31 January 2007 (UTC).
 * Actually, there was no evidence whatsoever that the youths the teacher fired the gun at had anything to do with any supposed "harrassment" of her and her family. Nick Cooper 14:39, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Guns are not 'outlawed' but obtaining them is certainly much more difficult than in other countries and carrying one in public is an arrestable offence which will result in some years in jail. Besides, just because something is illegal does not mean that people will not do it, so the assumption is not really correct. By the way, why do you mention this? See WP:NOT so see the part which says Wikipedia is not a soapbox, besides, what you are saying probably comes under WP:OR. --Hydraton31 13:54, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Citations needed
I have noticed in all the examples that there isnt an external link or citation... at least in a very obvios place. I assume that since it hasnt really come up in the discussion that the events have proper citations, but they are still not easy to spot on the page. Can someone update that?

Steve Irwin
Sure Steve Irwin wasn't a victim of happy slapping, I mean it was caught on camera... Headlines: The Chavvish craze of happy slapping is world wide... This time to a new level... Steve Irwin.... (Note that this is not intended to be offencive in any way whatsoever... If it is to other people I apologise in advance but the internet is a one-stop shop for free-speech.

Rape Is Not Legally Happy Slapping
The article lists "rape" as being called "happy slapping". Is there a citation for this from a legal standpoint, or is this merely a bad reference, to make so-called "happy slapping" sound like a strictly male "occupation"??? Just because a sloppy journalist from a tabloid newspaper might think every crime committed on a mobile phone is "HS", doesn't mean this is the case from a legal standpoint.

Yes, a link has been added to a case of child sex abuse later on in the article, but this doesn't mean the crime was indeed classifiable as so-called "happy slapping". If everything committed on camera using mobile phones, is definable as a crime, is called "happy slapping", would that also include "bestalisty with sheep", filmed with perverts mobile phones?, or can't lambs and sheep be victims of "happy slapping"?

If "happy slapping" indeed exists as a legal definition, the definition must not be interchangeable with sloppy tabloid media reporting. Wikipedia is about fact not presumtption of fact.

Whenever you get controversial topics on Wiki, some people add loaded statements.

Not everything filmed on a mobile phone is "HS", even if a newspaper says so.

Without the proper references, the "rape" reference ought to be deleted.

Odd Grammar
"This attack has been filmed on one of the boy's mobile phone two weeks before the report."

In most of the rest of the article I can at least understand what the editor is driving at, but I can't make head or tail of this. I would just delete the sentence altogether since we know the incident would have been filmed (tis the whole point of happy slapping afterall) but I may be removing some legitimate information ¬_¬

Packersh 22:40, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Media-reported incidents
I've tagged a number of the media-reported incidents for citations, as well as providing them for others, but overall I think this section is quite poor at the moment. In particular, I think a number of the incidents don't fit the profile for happy slapping, i.e.: Nick Cooper 12:47, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Slovakia, September 1, 2006
 * Sweden, September 1, 2006 - we need an English language cite for this, but even so it doesn't remotely fit the "random" element
 * England, October 10, 2006 - none of the BBC reports indicate the use of a camera-phone
 * Australia, October 23, 2006 - this seems far too premeditated and systematic

Tango advert?
Isn't a certain Tango (drink) TV commercial related to this phenomenon in the UK? Bwithh 16:05, 12 December 2006 (UTC)


 * It doesn't seem likely, since that particular advert was shown in 1992 and almost immediately replaced with a "non-slapping" version. Nick Cooper 18:13, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I have memories of kids at school aping the advert and launching sneak slap attacks on other kids and I have vague memories of some kind of news story about it, but the fad did only last for a term or two, I think Bwithh 00:06, 16 December 2006 (UTC)


 * This is interesting tho, i remember it too - and the only reason it DID get replaced with a non-slapping version was BECAUSE kids in school and at bus-stops took it WAY out of control (and in 1992 society was still polite enuf for it not to spread like wildfire??!!) and because there was a MASSIVE response from parents and teachers.


 * So, while perhaps not DIRECTLY linked to the noughties' version of happy-slapping, it seems to be an interesting and eerily identical precursor from the previous generation...especially because:


 * ...really - how can we really know... how do we know that the first happy slapper in 2004 wasnt some 14 year old kid who saw a parent's old VHS movie with that advert accidentally recorded? because the fact is, the advert is OF A GUY RECORDING THE INCIDENT ON CCTV AND THEN REWINDING IT AND PLAYING IT BACK with the words "ooh, Terry - did you see that! let's play it again!" or something along those lines...


 * I'd say that's pretty relevant. think about it... after watching it BigSteve (talk) 22:30, 15 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Bear in mind that it's a totally different generation. The happyslap gobshites around now would have been too young to have seen or remembered that advert properly.  It's a 12 year gap between the two.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.154.82.161 (talk) 21:58, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

"fad"?
How do you get to the suspicion that happy slapping is a "fad" (l. 1)?

Peter Ramsay
I've removed this incident as the only mention of HS is in this Canadian report, where it seems nothing more than speculation. The only references I can find in the UK media (here and here) don't mention it at all. In any case, given the paucity of reporting, it can't really be regarded as a "media-reported incident," at least not yet. Nick Cooper 13:04, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Legal side
I wonder how is publishing these videos legal. In my country victim of such assault could sue website owners (unless they're abroad) for breaching privacy laws78.131.137.50 (talk) 03:31, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

USA
There needs to be more information about this in the United States. It's not called "Happy Slapping" here, but it's basically the same thing; teenagers frequently do attack each other and then post the videos onto YouTube. Stonemason89 (talk) 15:12, 5 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Saw this on the news other day, think its called the "Knockout game." Its where they perform a sucker punch on a person and record the assault process.Tchu414 (talk) 21:45, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

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Regarding subjectivity/truth in swedish story. Risk of fake news.
As a swede, the swedish story makes me suspicious of it's truthfulness since:


 * 1) The story refers to race and/or nationality tho it's not relevant to the news article (both in quoted article and on the Wikipedia section) – this is often a tell that the article is politivcally motivated.
 * 2) The story is published on a finnish website, not linking to the original swedish post on Expressen so it's hard to know the authenticity of the story.
 * 3) This event is not widely known in sweden and I cant't find anything written in Swedish mainstream media about it. To me this is also a tell of fake/incorrect news.

I might be bad at research, so please find the original swedish source, if possible, and link to that instead of the secondary finnish shource.

Oh!pex (talk) 10:35, 22 February 2018 (UTC)

"hospitalise"
Since when has the verb "hospitalise" meant "attack so severely that the victim has to go to hospital" (not only the main article but in a quote on this talk page)? As far as I was aware - and I'm a native English-speaker - it only means "admit to hospital", as in "she was hospitalised". The other use strikes me as insulting, like the Dutch use of the verb "verbouwen" ("to rebuild") with reference to someone's face ("they rebuilt his face", i.e. they smashed it up).213.127.210.95 (talk) 16:55, 12 August 2018 (UTC)