Absofuckinglutely.

They stole a car, and had guns. Not sure if it was a carjacking, or they were just playing around with guns after the fact in the stolen car, but they also laughed about hitting the man.

Unironically, go Starship Troopers on these antisocial psychopaths. Public beatings and shaming, followed by jail. Parent too. Parents, plural, if you can find the dad.

Also, "joy ride" is such a fucking stupid term.

Months later, an anonymous tip would lead investigators to Instagram, where a video was circulating that appears to show Scott Dwight Habermehl, 63, being mowed down by a car with three boys inside. The video captured a disturbing conversation with a 13-year-old driver and now 16-year-old boy discussing hitting Habermehl, police said. An 11-year-old boy in the passenger seat waved a handgun and laughed as his side of the vehicle struck the cyclist.

I don't even have words to strongly enough condemn these...youths.

The arrests come after a rise in homicides committed by children driven in part by social media, loss of supports during the pandemic and an increase in the availability of guns. The shocking, deadly joyride in a stolen car in New Mexico has once again raised questions about how to hold children responsible for violent crimes.

So, it's social media, and not enough government assistance, gotcha. Also, has anyone ever heard it explained how "the availability of guns" has risen? They just always state it as fact, without explaining. We've always had guns, and they've always been available. They used to be more available to children. This is simply more anti-gun nonsense. And, to answer the last bit, you hold child criminals responsible the same way you hold adult criminals responsible.

When young people commit violent acts, prosecutors across the country are increasingly widening the scope of accountability to include educators, parents and others who fail to report concerning behavior, sometimes in addition to or in lieu of charging the children themselves.

I will say, I think that's an incredibly dangerous and very slippery slope. There are instances where the parents should be held responsible, but it's for enabling the behavior, not failing to rat out their own family or whatever. Not giving them guns, unless done with the explicit purpose of committing criminal acts. Mandatory reporting is bullshit, when talking within the family especially. If I had a child who was acting violent, I'm certainly going to try to handle that myself, before involving the government.

For example, in Virginia, an assistant principal and a mother faced charges after a 6-year-old shot his first grade teacher in 2023. Parents have also faced prison time and criminal charges after school shootings in Michigan and Georgia.

Yeah, those were shit parents, but not necessarily criminal. Again, they got them for allowing access to guns, or for not engaging in compelled speech, as I recall.

...homicides committed by children have risen dramatically, jumping 65% from 315 in 2016 to 521 in 2022...

All stats after 2020 are even more useless than they ever were. This doesn't show a trend, this shows they fucked society sideways during the Pandemic™.

Experts have told USA TODAY the COVID-19 pandemic helped create the conditions for the increase.

Nope. Government. The flu doesn't cause an increase in violence. Government enforced insanity and isolation does.

Americans bought tens of millions of guns, which may be easier for kids to access than parents realize, while children temporarily lost access to key social supports in their communities like violence prevention programs and spent more time online, where experts warn threats and taunts can escalate into deadly conflict.

Guns, social media, and lack of government gibs are to blame still!

Still, experts emphasized that screen time – or other individual factors – can't be entirely to blame.

"Entirely." LOL.

“The important issue here is any one of these things in isolation doesn't have the impact,”

"Isolation." Hilarious word choice.

Deadly attacks by young people have been captured on video and shared on social media before.

The young people at it again!

In September, four Las Vegas teenagers plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter for beating their classmate to death in a violent assault that was recorded and posted online.

Yeah.

Muhammad said disputes between kids sometimes originate online, where children and adults alike can make threats and talk about weapons.

They can talk! Freely and shit!

Yurcic told USA TODAY the main factors that put children at risk of committing violent crimes include poverty, mental health struggles, and being exposed to the criminal justice system or addiction at home.

There are, uhm, other factors. But moving on.

But she said social media has also been a huge factor in the majority of her juvenile cases...

And how many kids are on social media? Damn near all of them, so this is fucking worthless.