The "Knockout Game" -- a supposed trend in which kids dare one another to sucker punch an unsuspecting victim -- is purely a media fabrication.
That's what James Addlespurger tells HuffPost Live. The Pittsburgh teacher was seen on video in October 2012 getting hit in the back of the head so hard that he instantly blacked out and fell face-first into the pavement.
Addlespurger says the security footage has been used to identify the supposed "trend" -- and it's played on TV news shows countless times -- but he doesn't call the attack a "Knockout Game." He simply calls it "assault."
"I feel like I'm exploited," Addlespurger told HuffPost Live. "People need a label. If they're selling toothpaste or CDs, or news stories, they need a label ... To me it's an assault, plain and simple."
The supposed trend, he says, evolved from his and a few other videos on the Internet showing men recording themselves knocking people out. But just because you can find it on YouTube doesn't mean it's a violent trend.
"Butt slapping," for instance, is not a violent sex crime trend, but news stations have already begun to imply that it is, using only one person as a source.
Watch the video above to learn more.
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