Research Papers / "Schoolyard Bullying" in reference to the Casey Heynes incident [5]

Bullying is a worldwide problem that occurs around us every day and everyone experiences it at some point in their life, whether they are the victim or the bully. There are many different forms, however it is simply defined as the act of verbal or physical aggression directed at other young people by someone on a regular basis. Schoolyard bullying, in particular, is a prevalent issue in our society. The well documented case of Casey Heynes highlights this growing trend of bullying in our society. The reaction by Casey in reacting to the antagonizing by picking his tormentor up and body slamming him to the ground is also indicative of the violent nature of our present generation. While Casey did have every right to do what he did, there are much better alternatives to facing the bullies as opposed to physicality. The startling lack of knowledge of how to deal with such bullying in our current generation should be more than enough to suggest that some action needs to be taken. Parents and the educational institution's management have an important responsibility of teaching children not to harass others and equally how to deal with such bullying. If such figures do not they take up their duties, then this bullying will continue to grow within schools and have harsh repercussions for the future generations.

Though many of us have heard of bullying, very few people are able to properly define it and this is important if they wish to help erase it from our society. There are multiple ways to identify bullying. It can be described as repeated negative events, which occur over time; directed at a special individual and carried out by one or several people. It is also an act of aggression to intentionally cause embarrassment, pain, or discomfort to another person. In bullying, there's a clear imbalance of power. Bullying is basically anything that makes a person feel hurt, whether it is physical or psychological. No matter if it is physical or psychological, bullying is wrong. There are two types of bullying. The first type is indirect bullying, which includes intentionally rejecting or freezing someone out of a group. The second type is direct bullying. There are three categories of direct bullying--physical bullying, verbal bullying, and bullying yourself. Physical bullying includes pushing, shoving, hitting, kicking, stealing, and so on. Verbal bullying includes mockery, taunting, name-calling and verbal threats of violence. These types of bullying occur everywhere, but the most common place where bullying occurs is at school. The Casey Heynes case well exposes this physical side, however in most schools, verbal bullying is the dominant form and this is most likely what led to the confrontation between Casey and Ritchie depicted in the video. The vulnerability of the school environment has been exposed over the last few years and this new video is evidence of this. The transition over the years, from the traditional stealing of lunch money to much more extreme violence has been astounding. Not only that, but now we have victims acting as violent as the bully. There is no saying where our society is headed should this vicious process continue. It is in this manner that the requirement of action must be seen as necessary and there is no better place to start than root of the problem, the bully.

It may be quite confounding to think how such someone with such a violent persona as a bully can be created in our society, however in reality they are so many factors that can attribute to such a creation that it really becomes simple to understand. There are many psychological reasons why children turn to violence and aggression at a very young age. Some of these reasons could be frustration, the environment they are brought up, or just for fun. The common belief is that bullying stems from a low esteem, however new research indicates quite the opposite and that most bullies actually have excellent self-esteem. Bullies usually have a sense of entitlement and superiority over others, and lack compassion, impulse control and social skills. Statistics show that bullies have been bullied themselves at home or at school. The bully at the centre of the Casey Heynes case himself admitted that he too had been bullied previously. Ultimately all bullies are human and they are the same as us. Those of us who are lucky to be in a loving environment cannot judge people who have come from cold, self-centred, neglectful parents even if they may end up becoming bullies. Thus it is important that we know this as we set out to prevent people to from turning into one. Dealing with such bullies with violence or aggression may solve the problem initially, but in the long term, it going to have harsh repercussions for both the bully and the victim. There is no saying how such an approach will affect a damaged child such as bully both physically and mentally particularly in this case with the huge of amount of hate Ritchie is receiving for what he did. Not only that, but what kind of lesson does it teach Casey if he starts to believe that violence will solve his problems. It is not only clear that violence is not the answer in cases like these, but also that our current generation needs to be properly educated on how they can face bullies or overcome the trauma in the right manner.

When bully victims react with a power slam, you know something is wrong with our society. No-one can doubt the fact that Richie deserved it for his provocation, however responding to violence with more violence will never bring more good than bad. First of all it sends up a negative message to the millions of children who have watched the video. It creates the mindset that the next time someone annoys you, simply power slam them to the ground and they won't bother you again. Do we want our future generation growing up thinking that such violent behaviour is the solution to our problems? Secondly, there is no guarantee that what Casey has done will guarantee a life free of bullying. Who's to say Ritchie doesn't have an older sibling who takes offence to such an action or one of the millions who have watched have an issue with what he did? It could well lead to even more fighting and bullying for Casey as a result. There are repercussions of any action and taking matters in your own hands is simply not the way to go. It would have been much better for Casey to walk away from the whole thing rather then stay there and allow the situation to build up. Getting help from someone would have required much less effort than taking on the bully, however as is the growing culture of our society, students do not how to deal with bullying. The best thing any person being bullied can do is talk to someone, thus it is essential that in any school environment there is a strong presence of parents and teachers.

All adult figures involved in schooling environment have an important responsibility of teaching children not to harass others and also not to entertain it. The college and school management should monitor bullying and should have stringent actions against ones guilty. Parents should be watchful of their children of any stressful or frightened behaviour. They should create an atmosphere in which the child is able to talk to them about anything. It is clear that in this scenario, Casey was not comfortable with talking to his parents as he had bullied for most of his life and this why it lead to such an extreme event. In cases like this, the school must not only make sure to have counsellors that are able to interact with children well, but also that their teachers are aware of what's going on. It is amazing that there were absolutely no teachers around and no-one had noticed anything previous to the fight, particularly when it is obvious that the attack was not random. The school must educate victims of the harmful consequences of bullying such as the mental and physical stress caused especially when they refuse to tell others about it. They should discuss how these consequences could be avoided and additionally inform the parents about how such stress could be handled by them. Such precautions would go a long way in preventing a similar scenario to the Casey Heynes incident from ever happening again.

As comical as the Casey Heynes video may appear to be, in reality it depicts a very serious decline in the standards of our current society. Casey's reaction to the antagonizing does not only highlight the violent nature of the future generation but also their lack of education of bullying. For such videos to be made, the Government is clearly not doing enough to promote ways to deal with bullying for both the bully and the victim. While we may have gotten lucky this time with only a dislocated knee and a 4 day suspension, if we continue to standby as the innocence of our children deteriorates, then the next incident will have a death and a jail sentence. Schools are an integral part of one's life and the repercussions of allowing this farce to continue cannot be measured. Thus parent and teachers must take the initiative along with their Government to raise the understanding of bullying. For if they do not, there will eventually come a time where bully victims will find themselves with no way to defend themselves other than a possible criminal conviction.