I have a small guilty pleasure … dare I confess it? Ok, here goes: I kind of like reality television. Not the inane (though some might argue all reality TV is inane), superficial (again, someone might counter here), height of ridiculousness that appeals to the same audience base of Jerry Springer and Star magazine, but the stuff that showcase or cultivate talent (Project Runway), perseverance (The Biggest Loser), and adventure (The Amazing Race.) And OK, I like a little bit of drama here and there (I’ll keep those ones to myself.)

Unfortunately, reality TV has spawned a not so pleasant byproduct: the reality star and even worse, the reality wannabe star, which leads me to a recent trend that I frankly find disturbing. Kids apparently are filming and engaging in fights for the express purpose of posting them online. I’m flummoxed.

I understand and have stood witness to many a schoolyard fight during my days as a secondary student. But the fisticuffs were more often than not motivated by some perceived wrong or a misguided show of bravado. It was not done to gain fame and solicit widespread attention, as so many kids are doing these days.

“This is the bite of reality TV coming back at us, there is something about the culture of instant celebrity that seems to encourage this,” Alex Halavais, a communications professor at Quinnipiac University, told the Buffalo News, which did a search on the popular video-sharing website YouTube and found more than 40,000 videos came back under the key words “school fight.”

The most notorious video to date is one that occurred in late March, when six teenage girls beat a fellow Florida classmate for allegedly posting insults about them online. The 16-year-old victim suffered through a 30-minute series of punches, kicks, and slaps that continued even after she slumped to the floor and curled up in the fetal position.

Police arrested and confiscated the video before the protagonists, which also included two boys standing as lookouts, could post it online. Unfortunately, it became public and ended up on YouTube anyway. Despite the fact that they faced kidnapping and battery charges and would be tried as adults, several of the alleged attackers seemed flippant and unrepentant for their actions.

I don’t know what to say about this new phenomenon, other than it’s a sad day when harming another person is the mark of stardom among today’s youth.

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor