Use of violence is nothing to be proud of
Newcastle Herald
Tuesday March 22, 2011
IN 1997 Walter Mikac launched the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, named after his young daughters who were shot and killed by Martin Bryant at Port Arthur, Tasmania, on April 28, 1996.Mr Mikac defined the foundation as "a national charity with the belief that all children should have a safe and happy childhood without being subjected to any form of violence".Last Friday federal Education Minister Peter Garrett launched the national safe schools framework, describing it as the "first such national campaign against bullying in the world".During the launch he said there was "no place for violence in our schools".Presumably both Mr Mikac - the man whose daughters died at the hand of a killer who was both bullied, and a bully, at school - and Mr Garrett, are saying that regardless of the provocation, even a child being bullied is not entitled to use violence against the bully.And presumably that puts both men at odds with a large number of people both here and overseas who have cheered the victim who violently ended a bullying episode in the now notorious YouTube clip of students at a Sydney school.Which is why we need to keep talking about the issue.Many people have spoken about the bigger boy in the YouTube clip and how his use of a violent act to end the bullying was good for him. Looking at the grainy image of a large, silent boy being taunted and hit, it's sickening to think of him facing that every day for years.But it's horrifying to see the aggression unleashed when he lifts the bully and slams him into the ground. What would we be saying if the bully had been killed or left paralysed? Where would the larger boy be today if that had happened? Where would his international YouTube band of supporters be then?The bully in the YouTube clip has become a bit player in this story, but it only takes a quick flick through research papers into bullies to hazard that the small kid picking on the big, powerless kid in front of a crowd might not have the "safe and happy childhood" that Walter Mikac hopes for all Australian children.What impact has this episode had on him, and what kind of adult will he be? Supporters of using violence to stop bullying will say the bully won't bully again. But I'm afraid a more likely scenario is he's just been given another reason to be angry with the world, to add to the list that possibly started in an unhappy home where a defensive attitude helps you get through the day.The bigger picture message from the YouTube incident and its fallout is that violence is acceptable in some circumstances, and that's where we're letting children down, and where we're laying the groundwork for some ugly futures.People die from that thinking, every day. People end up in jail from that thinking, every day.It was a relief to hear the bigger boy's father say the use of violence was "nothing to be proud of". It's the grim reality that in Australia today, apparently it is.jmccarthy@theherald.com.au
© 2011 Newcastle Herald
