Halo Inspires Schoolyard Bullies to Teabag Victims
Point Pleasant resident Jane Chmielwski said her son was assaulted by a group of boys, one of whom held the child to the ground while another put his crotch to his head. The incident was documented with a cell phone camera.
Schools have classified the act as sexual harassment, acknowledging that the recent trend of teabagging as part of routine bullying was likely inspired by Halo, "in which players can perform a posturing move over a defeated enemy," the APP notes.
Reports of taunting, teasing and Halo-brand teabagging have been occurring off school grounds, prompting school administrators to consider a new bullying policy which would allow punishment of students for incidents occurring both off and on the schoolyard.
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WTF teabagging was not influenced by any game. Next thing you know, driving cars above the speed limit will be influenced by some game.
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It's fair to say that Halo influenced these children. There's no denying that the practice in Halo has popularized the act to many people. To blame Halo, however, is a fallacy, as teabagging wasn't invented for Halo, or even intended to be included in the game. Blame the kids for being bullies, charge them with some minor form of sexual harassment, but don't use the video game as a scapegoat.
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If a school has seen an uptick in teabagging that corresponds to the cultural juggernaut that is Halo, then there may be a valid connection. Not that you can BLAME Halo for it; just saying that popular culture does lead to imitation.
You could just as easily blame YouTube for the propensity to capture stuff like this on video. This is how these jackasses always get caught.