November 14, 2007
Judge Tom
0

Finland, Philadelphia and YouTube—a deadly connection?

14-year-old Dillon Cossey in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania met 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen from Finland on YouTube. They traded e-mail and exchanged posts on a site they were both interested in–about the Columbine school massacre in Colorado in 1999.

Dillon was arrested in October, 2007 for allegedly planning an attack on his high school. In early November, 2007, Pekka killed six students, a nurse and the principal at his school before killing himself. A rifle and other weapons were found at his home as well as a suicide note. 

Photo by Thms.nl (Flickr)

In October, 2007, five Belleville, Michigan 11th-graders were expelled from school after posting photos of themselves on MySpace. They posed around a pool table covered with guns, and holding a half-filled baggy and a handgun in the back of a limousine. The boys claimed they were play-acting for a CD cover but the school district stood by its discipline.

Share with us any thoughts you have about the use and/or abuse of video/photo sharing sites and the consequences of what some see as irresponsible behavior. Should there be limits on what you can post online? Why or why not?

Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

Find great resources in our

Teen Help Network

Leave A Comment