Being punished for defending oneself.

[Digsy 10]

There is a video that recently went viral, it involves two Australian school children, but it reflects bullying across the planet.

 

It lasts just 41 seconds but is a distressing insight into schoolyard and cyber bullying.

 

A slightly built 12-year-old Year 7 student antagonises a larger 16-year-old boy from Year 10, punching him in the face as a friend records it on his mobile phone and at least four other students watch.

 

The fight does not go according to plan. The larger boy appears to snap.

 

He grabs the other boy, picks him up with two hands and throws him head-first on to the concrete. A "crack" sounds as the 12-year-old's ankle connects with a timber bench. - http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/video-of-tables-turning-on-bully-sounds-alarm-bells-20110315-1bvmu.html

 

The bullies tactics were to make a youtube vid of him picking on a larger/older boy, but it backfired and now his youtube vid now shows why bullies should grow up and rethink their actions.

 

Both children were suspended from school.

 

My question is, should the older boy be punished for defending himself, he did well walking away whilst his opponent was down, I doubt they would have shown him the same courtesy.

Should the older boy have been suspended for defending himself?

Edited March 16, 2011 by Digsy

[Waldo 96]

No, he shouldn't be punished for defending himself. He should be punished for using an inappropriate amount of force and violence, in doing so.

[Kaimani 10]

No, he shouldn't be punished for defending himself. He should be punished for using an inappropriate amount of force and violence, in doing so.

 

can't say i agree. this kid was petrified. he used all his force coz he thought he was in real danger.

[alchresearch 213]

I think the full unedited vid was on Youtube a couple of days ago but they've taken it off.

[Digsy 10]

No, he shouldn't be punished for defending himself. He should be punished for using an inappropriate amount of force and violence, in doing so.

 

When you look into it, the older boy 'Casey' has spent a few years suffering such treatment from this group of boys.

 

A better view of the event is here.

The younger bully had pre-planned these staged torture tactics.

[RootsBooster 24]

No, he shouldn't be punished for defending himself. He should be punished for using an inappropriate amount of force and violence, in doing so.

 

The bigger lad is clearly no fighter and probably not used to measuring his amount of retaliating force. In this situation when someone snaps in repeated provokation, it's the last thing on their mind, if they are thinking at all.

 

He should maybe have been suspended for a few days, while the attacker should have been excluded (IMO).

 

The attacker could have easily been killed, but I doubt the bigger lad was thinking during his actions. I'm guessing his rational thought kicked in the moment he stepped back and saw what he had done, that is probably why he walked away rather than continue.

 

This most likely wasn't an isolated incident, bullies usually pick on the same "safe" target(s) repeatedly, so the victim was probably close to the edge already.

 

Good on him as far as I'm concerned.

[Digsy 10]

I think the full unedited vid was on Youtube a couple of days ago but they've taken it off.

 

Yes I think that is because of reverse bullying, I.E. that young lad is now the one being cyber-bullied by people around the planet responding to the videos.

It keeps cropping back up on youtube, and the local school children seem to give Casey a lot of praise for his actions.

 

Also heed the fact that the young bullies so called friend, the one filming on the phone and spurring him on was the one that uploaded the video originally.

Now that it has gone viral he has somewhat left both himself and his group of friends that appear to enjoy bullying others open to cyber-bullying.

 

Of course none of this is the fault of Casey who is only guilty of defending himself.

[Chris_Sleeps 10]

He should be punished for using an inappropriate amount of force and violence, in doing so.

I disagree. Nothing inappropriate in what he did. Bad luck for the younger lad to land so badly but he made the situation. No empathy for him at all.

[Kaimani 10]

kind of reminded me of the hulk saying 'you do not want to make me angry.'

all power to the kid. and good on him for walking away. that must have been a moment of great release for him when he realized he could defend himself. a lesser being would have smashed the the skinny kid to bits for all the years of bullying by all the bullies who ever did it.

 

the skinny kid got what was coming to him. even did a shuffle dance and everything to show off and look good in the video

[HeadingNorth 11]

Nothing inappropriate in what he did.

 

throws him head-first on to the concrete.

 

 

Would you care to reconsider? Or do you believe that deliberately trying to cave in someone's skull is a reasonable reaction to a few slaps in the face?

[Chris_Sleeps 10]

Would you care to reconsider? Or do you believe that deliberately trying to cave in someone's skull is a reasonable reaction to a few slaps in the face?

I'll keep with it. 'Deliberate' sounds like he planned the action. It was forced upon him when a bully picked a fight.

[SimpyTimpy 10]

Would you care to reconsider? Or do you believe that deliberately trying to cave in someone's skull is a reasonable reaction to a few slaps in the face?

 

Difficult one to call though - clearly the amount of force that was used could really have hurt the younger boy, but the older lad was clearly being provoked.

 

Perhaps the school's right in these circumstances, but at the same time, the older lad was backed into a corner, and he walked off straight after.