Poking sleeping lions & the stupidity of zero tolerance

	Every once in a while, the bullies get what's coming to them. Then the schools will be there - to protect the rights of the bully. That's where parents must step in, to protect their kids' rights to defend themselves

This week the news and youtube has been alight the story of a 12 year old boy at a school in Australia who tormented a somewhat husky 16 year old, punching him in the face and stomach. The bigger kid suddenly snaps, picks the little guy up, and slams him into the ground, leaving the younger boy seriously hurt, dazed and crying.

Given the fact that the whole incident is filmed, and the big kid is alone, it looks like an incident of group bullying that turned seriously wrong for the bully. It puts me in mind of the story of the boy who poked a sleeping lion through the bars of a zoo, only to get his arm ripped off when he awoke the animal.

There are many issues involved in this case, but opinions seem to be almost universally in favour of the bigger kid, yet both boys were suspended from school, demonstrating yet again, that school justice is often no justice whatsoever.

Any court in the World recognises a person's potential for reactive violence - that is to say, violence that is not premeditated, but is in response to a sudden emotional situation. Penalties are often lower, or non-existent. Admittedly, in this case, the bully was suspended for 20 days, whilst the victim was only given 4, but any punishment of the victim is an outrageous miscarriage. Justice cannot be served when the law is absolute and inflexible. It's like saying, "The speed limit is 30 no matter what, so ambulances and firemen must be prosecuted if they break it." Any time someone applies the law (or a set of school rules) it must be about the intent of the law, not a pedantic adherence to its letter.

Any court in the world recognises a person's right to use reasonable force to defend himself, and except in the most ludicrous of judgements, the defender is not found guilty or liable for damages. Most courts even recognise that under duress, in the spur of the moment, a person cannot be expected to scientifically moderate the level of his response to a precise amount that is considered "reasonable" or "proportionate".

So if the most tested and carefully considered courts and legal systems in the world undestand this, what the hell is wrong with the school administrators that they suspend the victim as well as his younger tormentor?

If you poke a sleeping lion, be prepared to pay the price!

I'll tell you what the problem is - laziness and woolly thinking by the schools. It all comes down to a pathetic, and unworkable concept called "Zero Tolerance". Zero tolerance is a principle that superficially sounds like a good idea, but in actuality, is ludicrous, and yet again, favours the bullies. The thinking behind zero tolerance runs thus: if we punish every incidence of violence, and always punish all involved parties, then we'll get rid of all that messy uncertainty about who the actual victims are, and everyone will be afraid to start trouble.

Does anyone remember being in a class when somebody misbehaved behind the teacher's back, and the teacher said, "If the person who did it doesn't own up, I'll punish the whole class." The teacher usually found out who did it, but all I remember, is my tremendous resentment towards the teacher for trying to turn us into sneaks, and for punishing us for a crime she knew most of us didn't commit. I don't remember who the trouble-makers were, but I know that my respect and trust for the teacher was eroded.

It's like imprisoning the bank staff as well as the robbers after a bank robbery. Great idea Einsteins! That kind of thinking might be acceptable for Texas state governors, one of whom infamously once allegedly said that he'd sooner execute nine innocent men than let one guilty one go free, but it's not the way that civilised people should do things. You only have to think for a nanosecond to see that it's nonsense. If bullies were afraid of punishment; if bullies played by the rules, they probably wouldn't be bullies in the first place most of the time. Zero tolerance is like using a fishing net with holes too small, so it now now catches additional unintended fish, namely:

a: kids who want to fight each other

b: victims of bullying

To be honest, if two kids want to fight each other, they'll find a way, and sometimes it might even be a way to resolve the situation. Perhaps what the schools ought to do is provide them with boxing gloves, an empty gym (no spectators thanks), make sure it's safe and let them go for it. with a referee. That way they can be sure that both parties actually want to be in the fight, and that no weapons or friends get involved.

Teachers serve as judge, jury and executioner, which is fine if they recognise and take seriously the consequences that wrongful or blanket punishments have upon the victims...

But here's the challenge in dealing with school bullying, and I greatly sympathise with the school administrators, I really do, because it's incredibly tough. The challenge is that it's hard to work out who is bully and who is victim, and whether an incident is worthy of action, or if it should be left to kids to sort out for themselves. Kids are forever whinging about foo foo problems that dissolve if you leave them on their own for 30 seconds. Moreover, what to one child is an ego-destroying incident, to another is a minor incident not even worthy of note. And even when an incident is actually bullying worthy of intervention, the bullies are cunning and the victims are often timid. Sadly, in some schools, they are interviewed in the same room at the same time. Can you imagine the police doing that to a rape victim and her attacker?

So it's difficult to work out who did what; boo hoo, let's just throw our hands up  and punish everyone! What an appalling way to dispense justice, and it's yet another example of why schools are often so woefully ill-equipped to deal with bullying,  and why kids don't trust schools enough to report bullying to them - because the schools are not toothless tigers; they're tigers that bite everybody! The schools have actually managed to position themselves on the problem side of the equation.

Here's the biggest problem with zero tolerance - it hog-ties the law-abiding. Those students who care about the rules and school. I've seen it time and again. Kids who are bullied, fight back, are punished, then spend the rest of their school lives being bullied worse because they are afraid of the punishment the SCHOOL will mete out. How ridiculous is that? The school has become the bully!

Until bullying is treated by all on a par with adult crimes of the same nature, bullies are never going to take the consequences seriously

Back to the case in question, the little guy was guilty of ASSAULT. He should be handed over to the police, and the case should be dealt with by professionals on that basis. But of course, the police are busy dealing with "real" crimes so they don't want the extra workload.

For some ridiculous reason, the most vulnerable people on this planet; the children, are treated with far less seriousness when it comes to violence. Assault is labelled bullying. Physical and verbal abuse is dismissed as kids being kids, or a rite of passage. And then, the kids are legally compelled, under threat of incarceration to them or their parents, to keep attending the place where they are abused. It's like telling a sexually abused boy that he must keep sitting on priest's laps or else...


So many of the school systems on this planet are insane. That's quite obvious. Yes, they have a difficult job, but that's no reason to punish the victims of bullying. So I say to you, what I have always said to you - tell your kids to avoid the bullies if they can, do all that you can to resolve bullying using non-violent methods, but if it comes to it, and your child is cornered and about to be physically assaulted by a bully, your child needs to know that they have your permission; even your encouragement, to strike out hard and first if needs be, to defend their safety, or the safety of their friends and family.

Then it comes down to you to fight their case. Don't settle for summary judgements, on the spot suspensions, or even expulsions. Some people might say, "If you don't like it, don't send your kids to that school," but issues such as catchment areas, student quotas, the legal obligation to send your kids to school means that simply withdrawing them and sending them elsewhere is not an option. So you must fight for your kids if they need it. Fight the head teacher, fight the board of governors, take it to the police and the papers, take it to court or anywhere you need to, and don't stop until justice is achieved. Because your child has no choice about going into the lion's den, but you have a choice whether or not to support them to ensure that schools are as safe as they can be.

Bullying can cause depression, and depression can lead to suicide. As one bereaved mother said, "While you are going through the system to fight for your child's rights, they are going into the battlefield... And today could be the day that he or she is fatally wounded."




Addendum

On a closing note, if things are as black and white as they seem, and the case that started all this really was a small boy unwisely bullying a much larger kid and paying the price, I think he may have learned a valuable lesson. I don't agree with the many sick youtubers who seem to hope that the little guy received many broken bones. But what I really take massive exception to, is the way that this incident has been televised and replayed millions and millions of times across the world. Yes the bully appears to be a cocky little S.O.B, but I think that humiliating him across the entire globe is little more than bullying him by the adult world. It's another case of trial by media, with a summary judgement being made by people who don't know any of the surrounding facts.

Maybe the little guy was getting even for an earlier incident. Maybe he was the bigger brother or friend of someone the older kid bullied. You just don't know. I'm no bleeding heart liberal, and bullying should be punished, but we just don't know enough about this case to judge for sure.

If the younger kid turns up at the other guy's house with a gun and something to prove, the press and youtube will have to take their share of the blame. I don't defend bullying, but nor  do I defend global humiliation of 12 year olds - whatever their crime.

Furthermore, I'm not sure that I like the idea of kids filming other kids AT SCHOOL, and then broadcasting that across the planet without the permission of everyone in front of the camera. This is exactly the behaviour that has taken bullying from a momentary local event to an internationally televised spectator sport, and the sooner youtube and break are pulled into line and prevented from hosting these kind of files, the better, for the wellbeing of everyone's kids.

A note in support of schools

I realise that I am generalising about school handling of bullying. Teachers, if your school does not fit this profile then I am not talking about you, and I would be very interested to hear how your school deals with bullying to ensure that the guilty are identified and punished, whilst the victims are helped.