The words are often difficult to understand, but the premise is this. Small boy insults bigger boy, takes a few swings, and waits for something to happen. Someone was obviously prepared to film the incident. I am not sure, though, that anyone was prepared for what the bigger boy chose to do.
The bigger boy has been publically identified as "Casey" (you can find his last name if you search diligently). Casey is a Year 10 (US grade 9) student at Chifley College Dunheved Campus in New South Wales. The smaller boy is a Year 7 (US grade 6) student. According to a friend of Casey's who is quoted in the Daily Telegraph, the two boys do not attend the same school.
Casey's father stated that Casey "had been the victim of bullying for several years and feared for his safety if he spoke about the fight." Both Casey and the smaller boy have been suspended (for four days, with long-term suspension or even expulsion mentioned as a possibility). A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Education and Training said that "the only injury sustained was a grazed knee."
Who is the bully? Who is the victim?
The Student Information Handbook (page 10) for Chifley College (as part of the NSW government school/preschool system) states that there are eight "behaviours (that) are not acceptable at school. They are stated here so that there can be no misunderstandings about what is expected as appropriate behaviour at school." Those eight behaviors are:
| Fighting | Vandalism | Retaliation | Violence |
| Bullying | Racism | Harassment | Stealing |
Drugs, weapons, items used as weapons, and replicas of weapons are also forbidden.
How many of these eight actions occurred during the brief video? I observed five. Of these, bullying is the most obvious, and most important.
Bullying is defined by Chifley as "intentional, repeated behaviour by an individual or group of individuals that causes distress, hurt or undue pressure." The smaller boy definitely bullied Casey. The smaller boy did harass--(1) : to annoy persistently (2) : to create an unpleasant or hostile situation for especially by uninvited and unwelcome verbal or physical conduct his schoolmate Casey. Casey is a victim.
A question that was voiced repeatedly is, "Where are the teachers/administrators/adults?" That is a question I cannot answer. Teachers and administration should be in the hallways monitoring students during class changes, at lunch, and before/after school. Sheer numbers, though, dictate that students will be able to find places that adults are not. If adult supervision always occurs at set times and places and does not occur elsewhere on campus, trouble will arise in those unsupervised areas.
I know this because I am a school administrator for a private international school in Asia. My school is a little smaller than Chifley's 364 students, but like Chifley we serve a diverse student body. Chifley is home to students from 15 different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. As a public school, designed to meet a specific need (it "supports the Dharug language revitalisation program") it still has a 25% annual turnover in students. That is a mobile, often-changing student body, just like what is found at my school. It takes a great deal of work to help students from so many different regions and languages form one cohesive "family." As an administrator, and teacher, there are several observations that I can make about this particular situation, based on the video.
- The incident was planned: no teachers were present, a student had a camera (or camera phone) on and ready, and supportive friends were near for the bully's routine.
- Chifley asks that students "actively work together to resolve incidents of bullying behaviour when they occur." The female student who stops the second, potential bully from interacting with Casey acted just as her school would ask.
- The cameraman and the potential bully should be punished. They did not act appropriately, but instead exacerbated the problem.
- There were no weapons in sight. Therefore Casey was not yet in severe physical danger. (NOTE: responsible authority should investigate this incident thoroughly. It is possible that weapons or threats involving weapons were made at other times. I cannot determine that from this video.)
- Casey, not in severe physical danger, reacted with excessive force. His actions were a brief moment of passion, but he could have brought serious harm to the smaller, younger boy who bullied him.
- The bully (and his friends) did not expect Casey to react as he did, giving evidence to Casey's father's claim that Casey is not a violent kid.
- If the claims made in news articles and on Facebook are true, Chifley has a much bigger problem than two boys starring in a YouTube video.
I disagree with both those views. Casey is a victim, but he did use excessive (violent) force against a smaller, younger boy in retaliation for the action taken against him. The boys were fighting, even if the only injury was a scraped knee. According to Chifley's own guidelines, both boys acted improperly, and therefore should both face consequences.
As a schol administrator, I am often called upon to make decisions. Based solely on this video, was Casey bullied by the younger boy? Yes. Did Casey retaliate? Yes. Do the boys deserve consequences? Yes.
Do the two boys deserve the same consequences? No.
Here is what they do deserve. The teachers and administrators at Chifley College need to investigate on YouTube and on Facebook. They need to talk to students--privately and publically--to learn just what is happening on their campus. Casey is a victim, but so are the other students at Chifley, if they are indeed attending a school with an atmosphere where students bully and mistreat students. Staff and administration need to be doubly vigilant to monitor hallways and gathering places, particularly when the boys involved return to school. Perhaps trusted parent volunteers can help with this.
I hope that the investigation brings needed changes to Chifley. I hope that Casey is not faced with another situation like the one in the video. I hope that the younger, smaller boy who has been bullying others will be counseled by a mentor who can teach him how to treat others with respect. I also hope that other schools who hear about the problem Chifley is facing will consider their own student community. Could such a thing happen at any school? Of course. How we handle the situation as adults will have a lasting impact on the lives of our students. We cannot wait until something goes wrong to make our choices. Else, like Casey, we may react passionately, but inappropriately.
I was bullied a lot as a child. I didn't do much about it as I am not a physically violent person. I agree that both boys are at fault for the incident. It's difficult to address bullying because it's such an ingrained part of culture. It occurs from birth to death in some form or fashion. I think that I preferred dealing with my bullying on my own. In my experience, intervention by parents or teachers usually made the problem worse. To truly combat these behaviors, lessons must be learned from early age and enforced by parents and caregivers. That, in itself, is reason to worry due to the breakdown of morals and family structure.
ReplyDeleteNice job here, as usual!
It seems this is a situation where the older child has received this treatment, as his father states ... except that NOW he is BIG ENOUGH to defend himself. So much so, that no one saw it coming when he threw the true bully onto the pavement. Luckily, the only injury was a scraped knee, but the force that Casey used is alarming. That said, as someone who has been the object of persistent bullying online, I understand Casey's frustrations. And I also understand the emotion behind his brute force to finally put someone in their place.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis of the situation as an educator is one which is fair and objective -- and completely correct. For people in the situation themselves, separating emotion from a long history of harassment is difficult if not impossible. That's why you're correct that teachers need to be all the more vigilant. And God bless the teachers, because honestly, I don't know how all of you keep up with this. You're saints in my book.
This is a great wakeup call for children, parents, school administrators, teachers -- AND adults who face this situation personally and who have to think hard and long about how forcefully they should respond.
As a PS. If I was Casey's parent, I would have taken him out for ice cream that night. We would have discussed the force by which he defended himself. But if I were to be honest with you? I would not have punished him. Perhaps that's wrong on my part, but I see the father's point of view, understand it and believe that protecting this child was the first course of responsibility before he got old enough and big enough to do something about it himself.
I feel that Casey had been pushed to the brink. It is obvious, here in America at least, that some students have resorted to far more violent methods of dealing with their bullies. Columbine comes to mind. I think that Casey should be punished, but the little boy did have it coming to him. As a very small child, I learned that you can't be a "little" bully. There is always someone bigger and stronger waiting to fix you.
ReplyDeleteI was constantly bullied by students. My children were as well because they were reared in a maternal home where violence was not allowed. I know that I probably reared children who reacted when away from me, but my boys didn't even fight each other.
I understand the wisdom of Solomon that administrators must have to deal with these situations, but the constant nag to me has been...Where were the adults? This was a small incident compared to what could have happened.
Kimmy