No, I am not posting this video. Too many others have posted it already. The boy from Australia who fought back admits he finally snapped from bullying. He is not a hero, but he deserves understanding and compassion. He had experienced repeated acts of bullying before this video went viral.
I certainly understand why he snapped. I also get why so many think he is a hero. I am proud of this young man for gaining control after he threw the bully. He did not keep attacking the bully although he could have. For the record, his father does not believe violence is the answer, nor do I.
You can see a video that includes the boy’s explanation of why he snapped, and comments from his older sister and his dad, as well as copies of doctored versions of the video that went to multiple countries, by clicking on the link below to Alan Eisenberg’s blog. I hope you will comment at Alan’s blog and then return here.
Video of Boy Who Fights Back Against Bully « Bullying Stories.
What is the answer? I still believe the answer is getting bystanders to help and I still believe schools need to reward them for reporting bullying and for standing up to the bullies. I also believe the bully needs help so they can learn to treat others with respect. We need programs that rehabilitate the bully. They then need to give back by teaching the importance of respecting others to their peers as a form of community service.
Delightfully Different Life 
I saw the video and I was totally shocked. Thank goodness the bully wasn’t hurt much, but I can’t really say he doesn’t deserve it after the provoking he did! With that said, I hope all the bullies in this world will learn that their victims are humans and have feelings, can only be patient to an extent, that sometimes will not just take all the bullying, walk away and cry but might or will actually fight back to defend themselves.
But for the victims, I hope they continue to endure, to just take it and to have that greater strength to walk away as much as they could, to be patient and to remember that – life has a funny way of getting back at us for the things we do, both the good and the bad.
“There is only one-way in which one can endure man’s inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one’s own life, to exemplify man’s humanity to man.” ~ Alan Paton
Charlotte,
I love that quote. Thank you!
I’m just going to leave a brief comment….you know where I stand on this subject already 🙂
Bullying SUCKS!
Fi,
Yes, it really does!
This is a tough story in that the act of the victim was so violent against the bully. The video shows how hard he slammed the bully down, almost on his head. I would think that if he did pile drive his head, we would act much different about the victim. That said, society has yet to help us solve pre-teen bullying, without boys (and girls) having to resort to punches. We need to find better, more productive solutions. I can’t call Casey a hero, but certainly can sympathize with his reaction to his attacker.
Alan,
I agree, but I hope at some point things really do change. I do believe if we encourage and reward reporting and standing up to the bully, it will at least decrease the severe bullying we see all too often in our schools today. I want to see an answer that does not involve violence.
I agree that the really best answer is to get by standers to voice their opinions of not tolerating the bullying or the violence.
In order to do this we need to focus on self esteem (which prevents being afraid to voice your opinion due to peer pressure) and positive ways to see yourself and others.
Grace,
I totally agree! 🙂
I agree. And I also think it’s important to teach people how to defend themselves. I think the boy did what he had to do. My only wish was that he’d been taught better means of defending himself.
Well written, Sue. 🙂
Laura,
I agree having a better way to defend himself would have been nice. However, aside from the concrete wall being in the way, it looked like he used a wrestling move that kids use in competition. He did not actually hit the boy’s head. Seeing the full story on Alan’s site certainly made me have more sympathy for the way he handled himself. I just hope one day violence can be avoided all together. I loved the Dateline episode where the kids defended the victim and were able to help.
Thank you for bringing this video and the response to it to my attention. 🙂