Topical Teaching

Last week I wrote a post about Casey Heynes, the Australian boy who was caught on tape defending himself against a bully.  In a graphic show of what seems to be a completely unprovoked attack, the bully is seen striking Casey with a fist to the jaw.  Casey then responds with the now infamous body slam.  I devoted the post to criticising the school’s response to the incident (It turns out that the child that filmed the video did in fact get suspended too).

So big was the news, and so divided was people’s reaction to Casey’s show of self-defense, that A Current Affair got a 1-on-1 interview with Casey:

The schoolboy who’s become an internet sensation after turning the tables on a bully has told how he snapped after years of cruel taunts about his weight.

Casey Heynes, 16, says he has been bullied nearly every day at his school, Chifley College, at St Marys, but could take no more when Year 7 student Ritchard Gale tormented and attacked him last Monday.

“All I was doing was defending myself. I’ve never had so much support,” he said during an interview with A Current Affair.

Casey reveals he’d been targeted by a new group of Year 7 boys who had started picking on him and teasing him about two weeks prior to the fight.

The Year 10 student said he was surrounded by the students when he went to get a school timetable before class.

As Ritchard backed him against the wall and started throwing punches, Casey said he felt scared and worried that others in the group would also start hitting him.

Eventually, he snapped, picking Ritchard up over his shoulder and throwing him to the ground.

The brawl was recorded on the mobile phone of another student who later posted the video online where he has earned “hero” status.

Asked if he was a superhero, he laughed and said: “No I wish I was.”

The video, which was taken off YouTube on Tuesday, has gone viral worldwide spawning dozens of websites and facebook pages congratulating Casey for fighting back.

It also sparked a media storm with St Marys residents claiming television stations were offering up to $1000 for information about the fight.

Yesterday, Ritchard was unrepentant. Asked whether he was sorry for attacking Casey, he bluntly replied: “No.”

The issue has divided the western Sydney community.

“Good on him. I was so happy to see a bully finally getting what he deserved,” one St Marys resident said.

“I don’t condone violence but when kids stage an attack like that and record it to humiliate the victim it’s wrong.”

But another resident Jayne Saunders said: “He could have broken that little kid’s neck.”

He explained that this wasn’t a one-off incident and he has been taunted for 3 years:

Casey said his outburst was a “build-up” of more than three years of being attacked verbally and physically by other students.

“They used to slap me on the back of the head and said I was a fatty and to lose some weight.

“I’ve been duct taped to a pole before as well. They target me because I don’t retaliate.

“I’ve never reacted that way before but everything built up inside me for three years…I just had enough. All I wanted is for it to stop.”

I am very disappointed that the bully is unrepentant. I would have thought that this saga would have taught him the lesson he needed to learn. Whilst I in no way condone violence of any kind, what rational human person can blame Casey for snapping? Yes Ritchard’s injury could have been a lot worse, and there is a concern that there will be copycat incidents because of the hype around this case. But I can’t help but go back to my original argument.

What is a child supposed to do when they are being taped to polls and there doesn’t seem to be anything done to protect them? I am glad that Casey feels more confident as a result of his new-found fame. But perhaps, the real story is not about Casey. Perhaps the real story is about all those kids who continue to be bullied without adequate intervention by their schools.