Violence as entertainment is not a new phenomenon.
Consider gladiators, for example.
Violence as an integral part of sports or games also has a long history.
A recent incarnation is "Knockout King" or "Knockout," which entails unprovoked attacks on random victims.
Knockout attacks have surfaced in St. Louis, where metropolitan authorities have investigated about 10 attacks in the past 15 months.
The game - if we must call it that - typically involves a group of young people, including girls and sometimes reportedly as young as 12. The group chooses a lead attacker who assaults a random victim.
If the victim fights back, the entire group joins the assault, which can continue until the victim is badly injured or rendered unconscious. The attacks may be captured on cell phone video and posted on the Internet.
Knockout may be comparatively new to St. Louis, but it is hardly a recent manifestation of urban violence.
Similar incidents have been reported in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Chicago.
And Knockout bears many similarities to incidents of "Wilding" that occurred in New York City decades ago.
Wilding involved roaming bands of juveniles who attacked strangers. The most notorious case commonly is referred to as the Central Park Jogger assault that occurred in 1989. Five juveniles were tried and convicted of the assault and rape of a jogger, but the convictions later were vacated.
Whether it is called Knockout, Wilding or any other name, these assaults are not game, sport or entertainment. They depict the depths of antisocial behavior, motivated not by revenge or robbery, but simply by brutality.
These unprovoked attacks are deranged, gang behavior at its worst. Law enforcement authorities must eliminate these acts of bullying run amok before they spread.