Casey vs Richard

This morning I feel compelled to say a thing or two about the video that recently went public, in which Casey, a Year 10 kid at Chifley College in Mt Druitt, apparently after prolonged and repeated bullying, finally struck back, and struck back hard. Hard enough in fact, to break the ankle of his tormenter.

Now, I'm not into violence. I don't think it achieves much. I've always tried to teach my own kids that there is almost always a better way to solve their problems than beating seven bells out of someone. But it seems to me that Casey finally reached snapping point. We all reach that point sometimes, and from the evidence in the video, of a kid being hit, pushed, verbally taunted and antagonised, while others egged on his nemesis, it was all too much. I get it. I really do.

I've been to Chifley College. It's a tough place, no question, with committed and passionate teachers and staff who work under some difficult conditions. There's been a lot of criticism of the school for the lack of teachers seen in the video, for the way this conflict escalated to the point it reached over time, and most stridently, that both boys were suspended. All I can assume is that the school has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to schoolyard violence. And I also suspect that in time, once everything has been examined, the younger of the boys might find himself in a little more trouble than Casey. Which, to me, on the limited evidence we have, would only seem fair.

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(For Facebook Notes readers: this post is redirected from my 'head vs desk' blog at headvsdesk.blogspot.com)