Victim of school bullying a web hero

[DB7]

Bats flagged this clip to me yesterday but here's the story of a bullied Oz schoolkid that finally snaps.

Victim of school bullying a web hero | The Daily Telegraph

[wellendcanons]

I was bullied for two years at a school in Liverpool. I simply thought that this tough guy was too much to handle. But he picked on me once too often when I'd suffered a very close bereavement over the previous weekend. I totally lost it with him and punched him really hard in the face a few times, then getting him into a headlock and on the ground. His tormentors that were egging him on tried to encourage him to fight on and one or two were slyly kicking me in the head. After I let him go, they persuaded him to have another go at me and although I'd calmed down when he punched me in the face all my anger rose up again and I did it to him a second time.

I'm not saying all this to sound macho. Personally, I can't abide fighting. I never could. But who knows what that lad might have had to endure in his personal life, aside from the lad who was bullying him? It was likely sheer frustration. He could easily have done the other boy serious harm, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a one-off. I think we're all capable of doing serious harm when we're up against it.

I hope the injured lad is all right. I hope he has learned a valuable lesson too. Bullying is not nice.

wec

[Wolfgang]

I think his school should review that suspension, that is clearly self-defence.

[DB7]

I hope the injured lad is all right. I hope he has learned a valuable lesson too. wec

I'm not sure he has.

[Arthur Linden-Jones]

The smaller student (the "bullier") smashed his ankle on the wooden seating (despite the inaccurate statement at the end of the article. But we've come to expect that from Sydney's resident tabloid rag, otherwise known as The Daily Terrorgraph for its tendency to overdramatise and beatup any story they can get hold of)

The suburb where the school is (North St Marys) is one of Sydney's outer western suburbs with a very high poor/low socio-economic population.

[will.15]

That has to be the dumbest bully of all time.

[Wolfgang]

First rule of bullying: Don't pick on someone bigger than you.

[Mr Sloane]

Bullying has no rules. Bullies and their victims come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

[markrgv]

I could never have any simpathy for a bully. If i was in charge of that school i'd expell that kid.

[flynn]

I was bullied for two years at a school in Liverpool. I simply thought that this tough guy was too much to handle. But he picked on me once too often when I'd suffered a very close bereavement over the previous weekend. I totally lost it with him and punched him really hard in the face a few times, then getting him into a headlock and on the ground. His tormentors that were egging him on tried to encourage him to fight on and one or two were slyly kicking me in the head. After I let him go, they persuaded him to have another go at me and although I'd calmed down when he punched me in the face all my anger rose up again and I did it to him a second time.



wec

i better keep an eye on you after you've had a few Beers at the Annual Meeting.

[wadsy]

In todays papers the little bully's mother says she wants the bigger victim to apologise!

[will.15]

I saw that. She says her son is being humiliated by the video being shown. It was his friends who filmed it and circulated it. Let them apologize to her little brat.

[Rowdon]

I know it sounds all wrong to ask for an apology from the victim of the bullying, but as mad as it sounds, there may be some sense in it. These are very young children and they have to be taught everything to do with socialisation, and apologies from the victim to the bully, from the bully to the victim, from the filmers to their 'friend', from the filmers to the victim and so on, would all be a good thing. Especially if the parents are the kind who think that if their child is in any way criticised or attacked, then amends must be made to him, whether or not it's his fault.
I don't think anything can be achieved in these situations by labelling the bully a hopeless evil case from a hopeless evil family. I know it's tempting, but there are other ways that this can be resolved, surely? (I'll call you Shirley if I like). The bully has been humiliated in public, that is true, so surely that can be built on? He can now realise what other people feel when they are bullied. He has also seen that the bigger boys filming him aren't really his friends at all - can't that be built on?

I would hate to think what my own (relatively innocent and happy) childhood would have been like had I not been given a chance to behave better after being cruel or heartless to other kids.

The bully's parents are a different matter.

[ShirlGirl]

The smaller student (the "bullier") smashed his ankle on the wooden seating (despite the inaccurate statement at the end of the article. But we've come to expect that from Sydney's resident tabloid rag, otherwise known as The Daily Terrorgraph for its tendency to overdramatise and beatup any story they can get hold of)

The suburb where the school is (North St Marys) is one of Sydney's outer western suburbs with a very high poor/low socio-economic population.

Believe me, it happens on the upper North Shore, too. My nephew - a lovely kid - went through a nightmare of bullying at Knox College a few years ago, and eventually left because of it.

I know it sounds all wrong to ask for an apology from the victim of the bullying, but as mad as it sounds, there may be some sense in it. These are very young children and they have to be taught everything to do with socialisation, and apologies from the victim to the bully, from the bully to the victim, from the filmers to their 'friend', from the filmers to the victim and so on, would all be a good thing. Especially if the parents are the kind who think that if their child is in any way criticised or attacked, then amends must be made to him, whether or not it's his fault.
I don't think anything can be achieved in these situations by labelling the bully a hopeless evil case from a hopeless evil family. I know it's tempting, but there are other ways that this can be resolved, surely? (I'll call you Shirley if I like). The bully has been humiliated in public, that is true, so surely that can be built on? He can now realise what other people feel when they are bullied. He has also seen that the bigger boys filming him aren't really his friends at all - can't that be built on?

I would hate to think what my own (relatively innocent and happy) childhood would have been like had I not been given a chance to behave better after being cruel or heartless to other kids.

The bully's parents are a different matter.

I can't see the point in asking for an apology, in any situation. It should come unsolicited and be sincere.

"I'm sorry" is just a lie if it's demanded and there's no genuine remorse.

[will.15]

The little punk started it. He is the one that should be apologizing.

[Rowdon]

I can't see the point in asking for an apology, in any situation. It should come unsolicited and be sincere.

"I'm sorry" is just a lie if it's demanded and there's no genuine remorse.

I agree, but these are children and you often have to ask - or tell - children to do stuff they don't want to and wouldn't do themselves. I agree with will15 too that the bully needs to apologise, not the victim, but you can only lead by example. Lessons can be learnt by kids, but they sometimes have to be made to learn them, otherwise it takes their whole life and a lot more people get hurt than need be.

Sermon aside, I don't know why there isn't yet any legislation on filming and posting a film - why do these things take so long? I don't necessarily want the kind of law whereby if you stand aside and do nothing you can be tried (that's a different argument), but actively taking a camera out, filming an event, posting it on youtube and at no point thinking that what you're doing is wrong ... Can't we specifically make that criminal?

[frame69]

If you choose to be a bully then you should be prepared pay the price. They never prosper no matter how big they are. A friend of mine from junior school used to go home every break/dinner time to help his mum who was in a wheelchair with the daily chores. I came across some lad from another year being nasty to him on his way to the next class in the high school and intervened whereupon the large bully turned his attention on me,what happened next was a scene of sheer chaos ending in me being taken to the local police station. I insisted that he fell through the annex window but still got suspended for a long time. After the stitches came out he was a timid little mouse but I was then burdened with the label of 'bully terminator' which altered my path in the education system. Should I have stepped in? Christ yes,I think so. That moment still haunts me as being one of the scariest times of my young life. I still react the same way when I encounter nastiness to someone who dont deserve it. But,would I have been a different person if I turned away? I'll never know. To be honest this was quite tame up to the true meaning of the word 'bullying', some kids take thier own life because of extreme bullying because no one is there to stop it.

Frame.

[will.15]

I don't approve of filming and posting it either, but there is a difference between what is ethically wrong and a criminal offense and I think this pretty much falls under free speech.

[Rowdon]

I don't approve of filming and posting it either, but there is a difference between what is ethically wrong and a criminal offense and I think this pretty much falls under free speech.

I can't agree with you there. We have rules against certain types of 'free speech', or limits on the rights to do whatever you want, and this should be one of those cases. The posting on youtube against a person's will (not you personally, Will, another person's will) makes the bullying far, far worse, and should be added to the offense being dealt with, as a separate, cruel act. Or at least legislation should be in place so it can be used if necessary. Of course it's dangerous, but any kind of law can be abused.

[will.15]

You can't even legally sue for embarassment, which is the harm done by the video, so how can you make the posting of it illegal?

Youtube deleted it becaue the parents complained, but it is all over the place now including television news.