A terrible fight which erupted between two schoolgirls was caught on camera. The video headlined tonight’s Channel 9 news broadcast and shows gutless bystanders just watching passively.
To watch this video follow this link.
Unfortunately we are in the age of simplistic answers to major problems. In this case, it is not a culture of bullying that is blamed, but instead, Facebook:
BULLYING on Facebook has been blamed for a violent confrontation between two Melbourne schoolgirls caught on film by classmates unwilling to intervene.
A 14-year-old, who has remained anonymous, has told Channel 9 she was too afraid to go to school after repeated attacks by a 16-year-old girl from another school.
In the footage, recorded in February, the victim can be seen being dragged by her hair while she refuses to fight. She is then kicked in the head.
Students can be seen doing nothing to help her.
The older girl can be heard taunting her younger victim. When the victim goes to ground, the older girl says: “Just get up.”
The victim was dazed and coughing up blood.
The girl and her mother spoke out after five similar incidents in six months. The girl was terrified and unwilling to go to school or leave her family home in southeast Melbourne.
But she isn’t willing to give up hope that life will return to normal.
“Look, there’s always someone out there that loves you – you don’t have to feel like it’s just you – that’s how I felt for a long, long, long time,” she said.
The online jibes began in January, when it is alleged the bully posted insults on her Facebook page.
It escalated to the point where the girl claims bottles were thrown at her and threats were made towards her family.
The police became involved on Monday, but the mother of the alleged bully said there was more to the story. She blamed Facebook culture for an outbreak in bullying.
State Education Minister Martin Dixon said the department would be told to act once the police finished its inquiry.
“I was deeply appalled. … The type of behaviour shown should in no way be tolerated,” he said.
He said the department also has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying.
All schools are required to have anti-bullying and cyber bullying policies in place that students are made aware of and expected to adhere to.
This extends to appropriate mobile phone use, he said.
Tags: Bullying, Channel 9, Education, facebook, Martin Dixon, Melbourne, News, Schoolgirls
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