Bullied vs. Bully.

(eff bombs ahoy... Sorry I was passionate!)

There's a viral video that has been going around lately about two boys in middle school in Australia, one, a skinny boy named Ritchard Gale, (seemingly unprovoked) approaches a larger boy named Casey Heynes, grabbing the front of Casey's shirt, punches him in the face, and then after being stopped when he attempted a second swing to his face, goes for Casey's gut. Casey picks up Ritchard like a piece of kindling, and then brutally body slams him on pavement. 

It's quite honestly, horrifying to watch.


Here's the video, for those that haven't seen it and want a better idea of it without my written description. I have no idea how long it will remain available, but if you haven't seen it yet, it's a total eye opener.





Casey Heynes (bullied kid fights back) by felixggenest



Now, I just finished watching an interview on YouTube from both boys. I think there is more to the story than what the original video shows, and I personally think both children should be punished for their behaviour. Richard for picking on and assaulting Casey, but Casey as well for almost crippling Richard. Violence begets violence, and what happened here is inexcusable on both parts.

I can hear the trolls now, "Oh Casey is a HERO! He stood up to bullying! How can you say that?!" I can already hear the bullshit reasoning saying things like "What if it was a woman being raped would you punish the rapist and the woman?" (the answer is NO. I'm not an asshole, and there is a big, BIG difference.) I will honestly tell you I'm no advocate of bullying, or violence, I was bullied both physically and verbally for my ENTIRE school life. It's hard, it's not pleasant, it brought me to the verge of killing myself once as a teenager.

However, I've seen this video three or four times now, and what everyone is saying/doing is vilifying this boy (YES! I said it, he's a BOY! HE is a CHILD!) online, on facebook in some pretty horrifying groups and pages, in forums, celebrating Casey's "self-defense" against Ritchard. Yeah, self-defense is one thing, but he could have broken that stupid kid's spine, hips or legs. I fully understand reacting in anger, the fight or flight syndrome, etc... but doesn't it scare you a little? What brought things to such a head full of steam that Casey's only and last resort was turning Ritchard into a pile of kindling?

This Ritchard Gale, who totally did something despicable, contemptible, it's appalling. He knows he did, but why did he do it? What is the underlying psychological reason as to this skinny little shit wailing on this much larger boy, other than stupidity and the obvious desire to get the crap kicked out of him? Because it doesn't seem like this kid is stupid. It doesn't seem like this kid has a suicidal streak in him that screams out "Hey! Let's go punch some fat kid in the face and then see if he can break my hips!" Ritchard says that he's been bullied by OTHER children throughout his middle school years. He's from a family that isn't together anymore, and probably has an unstable home life. I'm not trying to make this kid sound innocent, because he obviously has done what he has done, there is video evidence of that, but people have to realize that this is a vicious, catch 22 cycle.  Bullied kid becomes bully. unstable home lives lead to aggression, anger, fear. And you know what? The average 10-16 year old boy is NOT capable of dealing with those kind of emotions. Hell, most grown up's aren't capable of dealing with those kind of emotions.


Casey says in his interview that he filed at least 60 complaints/reports to the school administration about the bullying he was recieving from Ritchard, which goes to say, where the hell were Casey's parents? Again, where the hell were Casey's parents? And WHY weren't they asking their son about his life and his school situation? You're supposed to pay attention to your children. it's your job to protect them, it's your job to HELP them. 

This is what I'm getting at with this:

AS A PARENT YOUR JOB IS TO ADVOCATE FOR YOUR CHILDREN BECAUSE THEY ARE UNABLE TO DO SO.

How many times have you dismissed a child out of hand because what they were bringing up to your attention was distracting you from your daily routine or goals, and let's face it, kids do talk a lot of nonsense. Here's a reality check for you, if nothing else. They are CHILDREN, you are an adult, and as your children, they are your responsibility. Why the hell was Casey filling out reports, instead of Casey's mom and dad? Why weren't Casey's parents raising a hellva ruckus over their son being threatened/assaulted? Maybe they were, but if that's the case, then why was Casey still attending this school when there's obviously a serious problem with another student there? Why wasn't social services from the government stepping in and educating and counselling these kids? What about school counsellors? Nothing was happening? WHY?  I know it seems like I'm beleaguering the hell out of this, but seriously, It took 60 reports and multiple bullying  incidents between these two kids and apparently absolutely nothing happened until this video was posted on the internet/went viral and THEN people fucking noticed.

Appalling. Something is definitely wrong here.