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You are going to be sorry, very sorry
Despite trying to ignore it, I couldn’t help but to be drawn into the affair about the Melbourne ‘party boy’ that has been big news in Australia. After watching the Youtube video below, I started to feel sorry for 16-year-old Corey Delaney. He is being hounded by the media, the police and his parents because a party at his house got out of hand. For those who aren’t familiar with the story, the kid was meant to go with his parents for a holiday to Queensland. However, he pulled out of the holiday at the last moment, saying that he needed to work. In actual fact, the kid held a party at his house while his parents were away, and some of the 500 people who turned up damaged property and attacked police.
For sure, the kid was irresponsible. But does his self-esteem and image need to be beaten to a pulp because he made a mistake? The whole affair reminds me of a good blog post written by Sam at All Men Are Liars. Sam deduced that the major motive for journalists covering the Ben Cousins saga (a drug-addicted Australian footballer) was to make a seemingly unrepentant Cousins apologise. Never mind that the drugs were not performance enhancing and are probably Cousins’ own private problem. Think about it – if the media never reported about Cousins’ drug use, then probably most of Australia wouldn’t know about it and his image as a role model would not be tarnished.
But still the media hounded Cousins, in very much the same way as they are hounding the Melbourne party boy. In both cases, the media wants its target to say sorry and be ground to dust. For a great example, have a look at the video below. The TV host wants to know whether the party boy is sorry for causing his parents trouble. Quite rightly, the party boy initially backs away from making a public apology on air, instead stating that he will say sorry to his parents when he sees them. But that’s not good enough for this righteous host - she wants the boy to say sorry to the police and the whole of Australia. She even wants him to take off his sunglasses, something that has become an obsession for the Australian media. The interview resembles an exasperated teacher telling off her naughty student. Authority, in this case represented by the media (despite the media seemingly having no respect for the law), is trying to discipline one of society’s ‘wild members’.
I feel sorry for the kid because everyone is playing the part of authority and ganging up on him. The Victorian Police obviously sees it as a rare opportunity to get public opinion behind them, while the media loves its role as a disciplinarian. However, the saddest thing for the kid is that his parents have also sided with authority. Yes, his parents have the right to be very angry – he lied to them and was responsible for $20,000 worth of damage. Despite this, I believe that his parents should have not aired their grievances through the media and acted as an arm of authority. I believe that no matter what happens, parents should always be on the side of their child Parents should teach their children how to be good people, but they do not need to act like police. Policing should be left to the police themselves, as well as high school teachers and managers, etc. The most important job of parents is to provide unconditional love and understanding. The party boy’s parents have left him very isolated, and I reckon that they should be held partially responsible for the damages that were inflicted on their neighbourhood.
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Posted: 1:06 PM, 19/1/2008 in AustraliaShare on Facebook |
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Corey what's his name...
I actually agree with you on the media hounding. And I ws particularly surprised to see the interview on Today Tonight. The interviewer spoke to Corey like she was a school teacher talking to a naughty student. I alreay have a low opinion of that show, but this was ridiculous. Journalists are meant to be objective, to report a story to to make it or to make a person in the news do something.
I did find the kid fairly arrogant and unrepentant, which made him an easy media target. But this is just one example of kids throwing wild parties. It's no worse than hundreds of other children around the country and I also don't think that he was responsible for most of the damage. It was the fault of his guests, and the individuals responsible should be held accountable, not the party host. |
Posted by AngelaJames at 3:32 PM, 20/1/2008 |
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Posted by Anonymous at 5:07 PM, 21/4/2008 |
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