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Sneaker violence has been mentioned and referred to for quite some time, most notably when Sports Illustrated put in on their May 14, 1990 cover, drawing considerable awareness to a problem that has surely since bubbled over. However, coverage of this hot-button issue has typically been relegated to both its biggest perpetrators and victims, American men. Complex Sneakers has regularly written about how release days in Europe are much smoother and more communal than their American counterparts. But today, the Mirror brings us the tragic story of a young girl who was bullied and beaten for wearing the "wrong" sneakers at Ivanhoe College in Leicestershire, England. You can watch the disturbing clip above.
12-year-old Kate Morris had been the victim of bullying from her peers for a while, but had never been physically assaulted. Her bullies claimed she was wearing the "wrong" sneakers (or "trainers," as the Brits call them), saying she got them from a charity shop and pushed her into the bushes before beating her up. The video has made the rounds in the community and now has people calling for the arrest and expulsion of the alleged assailants, as they very well should.
Seriously, fuck everything about this. If you needed further evidence that children are terrible monsters, this is it. They'll pick on someone for the weakest reason and just go with it, hive mind-style. It's honestly a wonder that anyone actually survives middle school with the rampant insults and bullying that goes down. You don't even realize it until you look back on it sometimes. Whether you can call this proper "sneaker violence" doesn't really matter. Let's just hope that Kate's unfortunate situation is handled swiftly and smoothy, her justice taken care of first and foremost.
