By Santokh Singh

THE scenes on television were extremely shocking.

First, there was this group of seniors conducting their initiation (we call it orientation here) for freshmen at a high school in the United States.

Part of the activity was to sit the juniors in rows and bash them up - physically. They were beaten with dustbins, punched and kicked, and had some cement-like substance poured on to them.

And when one of the juniors retaliated, she was set upon by five seniors. Yes, they were all girls, egged on by boys who were videotaping the event.

The end result - three students were rushed to hospital, with one needing stitches to her scalp. It became a police case.

Parents of more than 20 students were sued by parents of two of the victims. The case, it was reported, was settled for an undisclosed amount.

Damage to the kids, their homes and school? Priceless.

Caught On Camera - Teens Gone Wild, which was aired on AXN on Thursday, brought a whole new dimension to reality TV for me as a parent.

The programme's other footage included a student - caught on a school CCTV - punching a teacher with a knuckle duster in the corridor right in front of other students. The teacher needed 28 stitches just above her eyebrow.

Then there was this 16-year-old girl, who was accused of 'trash talking her friend' on Facebook, being invited to one of the girls' home before being beaten silly by a group of five.

She, too, ended up in hospital with police arresting all those involved in either the beating or the filming.

Yes - and I admit I may be a country bumpkin here - the programme sent shock waves through me. I thought I had seen it all when I worked with a reporter on the story of a group of Singapore girls beating up a fellow student for allegedly having sex with one of their boyfriends.

This was about three years ago and the culprits were brought to justice by our authorities. I remember being absolutely appalled by what I saw then.

But what I watched on US television made the Singapore version look like a childish prank.

The only consolation for me last Thursday evening was that my daughters were not too keen on watching the programme - they preferred reading in the room.

And my sons, who watched the programme with me, felt that the kids involved were 'sick retards who need either psychiatric help or a good thrashing themselves'.

But I do worry that both technology (especially YouTube and Facebook) and teen hormones combined may bring the worst out of our kids.

That the line between 'fun' and 'violence' may be blurred and that some may cross the boundary without even realising it.

At least that was the conclusion drawn by the producers of Caught On Camera.

And if it is not violence, then it may be sex.

For, closer to home, I was just as disturbed when I was alerted to an Internet TV show where two local girls were filmed 'making out'. They were in fact 'teaching' the audience the full works of kissing.

Like I confessed, I may be an old fogey when it comes to hip things these days (for me there's no difference between making out and having sex) but I am disturbed nevertheless.

If only new technology could come hand in hand with old values.

santokh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The New Paper.