>>
violent fights between girls. prosecutors say they are seeing more cases and many are caught on tape. nbc's
kerry sanders
has more. good morning.
>> reporter:
good morning, carl. the experts say it is hard to pinpoint a cause, but here in
brunswick county
, the district attorney said he's seeing more of this and has three girl-on-girl fights in the last month. the most sensational was recently a teenager who's a star on "teen mom 2." at first the fight appears staged, but as it unfolded, clear. 19-year-old nell and 19-year-old
brittany
are out to do each other harm. the fight was allegedly over a boy kiefer dell. he and
janelle
are charged with breaking and enterering and
drug possession
in an unrelated incident. janell evans is more than a girl in a fight. she's also a teenage mother and star on the
mtv
reality show
"teen mom 2."
>>
my mom got mad i used her
credit cards
so she cancelled them and told me i couldn't come home.
>> reporter:
a spin-off of the show averages 2 million viewers an episode. the second highest rated original program on cable. prosecutors tell nbc news they fear
reality tv
creates a sense of impunity that teens believe this is okay because it's part of a show or the characters they play on the show.
janelle
and
brittany
are charged with fighting in public. district attorney john david.
>>
we are not going to allow anybody to make a mockery of the system.
>> reporter:
we asked
mtv
if they instigated the fight. they say absolutely not. we would never create an event like this for publicity. in the first installment of the show, one of the teenaged mothers punched and slapped the father of her child. that resulted in two felony charges.
>>
they are thinking the glorification from being on the internet or being on television is the way to get attention and that becomes a way to get attention. how do i get on tv? i fight, do outrageous stuff. that's the message being sent.
>> reporter:
case in point, in washington, 13-year-old sierra was so severely beaten last week she was hospitalized.
>>
i started getting a little nervous. i saw the blood that was on my face.
>> reporter:
sierra admits she willingly took part in the fight and has been in three other fights this year.
>>
it's the
peer pressure
. if i say i don't want to come they look at me and think i'm scared or a baby or something. all the
peer pressure
makes me want to do it more.
>>
it's like there is no accountability for the kids. they keep doing it.
>>
go for the head shot.
>> reporter:
in florida, deputies arrested not the fighters but the mother of one of those in this
youtube video
for allegedly taking her daughter to the fight and egging her on. the lawyers representing
janelle
,
brittany
and kiefer dell say they all plan to fight the charges. meantime, the district attorney here in
brunswick county
said there was recently another fight girl on girl that got so out of hand one girl stabbed the other and killed her. carl, apparently that's also all on videotape.
>>
incredible.
kerry sanders
, thank you for that. wendy murphy is a former prosecutor. dr. janet taylor is a psychiatrist in new york. good morning to you both. thanks for being with us.
>>
good morning.
>>
seems like we are seeing a lot more cases but the posting online and the videotaping, why is that happening?
>>
we live in a society where we have access to media 24/7. the kids are used to living their life using socialle media. the aspect of intentional violence and more disturbing, the observers and watchers. it's not entertainment. it's dangerous. someone was killed last week. we have to stop this violence.
>>
wendy, as adults we look at it and obviously think it's abhor rent, but teenagers may notal feel that way, right?
>>
that's right. it's hard because we are watching the programs and thinking nobody would behave like that and assuming our children feel the same way, horrified not excited. the line for kids between entertainment and, you know, warning signs, they are not always clear the way adults are. i agree that this is something because kids are seeing it onle television, this is the way you become famous, they feel it is normal, the way they should be.
>>
i want to ask you about "teen mom 2." 3.8 million viewers an episode on average. the second highest original program on cable. what do these shows have in mind? do you believe
mtv
's denial that they wouldn't stage this and do they bear responsibility?
>>
we all bear some responsibility. what would be disturbing is if the cameramen who are adults fliming it didn't intervene, but with the nature of teens and their adolescent brains, being reckless, trying new things, not thinking about consequences is part of being a teenager. what happens on the show is you see no consequence. you see teen mom and they don't look at what's hard 24/7, raising a child nor do they see the consequence of assault which is what we are visualizing with these videos.
>>
we heard in kerry's report the girl sierra spencer 13, who tells a reporter this is not a
big deal
to me. has fighting become a more acceptable social tool among teens?
>>
yeah. the
peer pressure
makes them not only engage in the be but think it's cool to make no
big deal
about it. kids have to understand, this is criminal activity. just because they are kids doesn't mean they won't be prosecuted for the crimes of assault or accessory. even if you're not hitting. if you are a by-stander egging a kid on, you can be prosecuted. you can go to jail. you think this is entertainment, but it's serious stuff.
>>
it raises a bigger question. how do we talk to kids not so much about you shouldn't do this, but the consequences if you do of being in the fight, of watching the fight.
>>
absolutely. fighting isn't an acceptable social tool. we need to teach kids to respond to
peer pressure
, to say no, understand that it's a big part of adolescence. walk away and tell someone. for every teenager you see on the videos there are kids suffering in silence. we need to get them to speak up and prosecute teenagers who were involved in this intentional violence with assault and let people know the consequences.
>>
incredible. it's good it's getting attention. thank you both. now
