Thursday, March 17, 2011

When the system fails

Yesterday, Australians were swamped with videos of a year 10 student being bullied and punched by his attacker. And there are tons of videos out there of a similar nature but this one stands out because the victim fights back--he wrestles his attacker to the ground and ending the ordeal...for now.

The victim has allegedly been bullied for years and the school system has not done enough to stop it. Perhaps, the poor kid has had enough and decided to protect himself when the school system should have prevented it from happening.

As a consequence, the bully was suspended for four days and so was the victim. The abused kid has been tormented already and I do not understand why the system has not only failed him but is also causing more damage.

I know the government does not give much power and tools to the school and the teachers in stopping bullying. It is a fact of life here for Australian kids and unfortunately, we cannot see an end in sight.

All my friends know that I was bullied as a kid, too. It was not really physical (physical bullying is not really common in the Philippines) but psychological. I knew I had the strength to fight back and I wish I had the balls to do it.

So I am glad that one victim fought back.

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