NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Crime

Editorial: Bullying videos a wake-up call

Herald on Sunday
2 Apr, 2011 04:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The attacker was filmed as she knocked Robin de Jong to the ground and brutally bashed her. Photo / Supplied

The attacker was filmed as she knocked Robin de Jong to the ground and brutally bashed her. Photo / Supplied

Opinion

Youtube and mobile phones with video capability long ago turned the planet into a digitally connected global village.

Thus Casey Heynes, the Sydney schoolboy who dumped his tormentor Ritchard Gale to the concrete, after he repeatedly punched him, was able to become an instant media celebrity after a grainy
cellphone video clip of the altercation was posted online.

The simplistic analysis of the ethical issues involved looked a little threadbare as soon as some flesh was put on the bones of the story. Casey, it emerged, may not have been blameless; Ritchard claimed he had also been a victim of bullying, by Casey and others.

Yet the story spoke to some familiar archetypes: of the chubby boy snapping after years of abuse; of the feral youngster who had been allowed to get away with too much for too long.

More important, it struck a raw nerve in all parents who worry about the potential threat posed to their children by daily attendance at school.

As ill luck would have it, we had an even nastier example closer to home only a few days later: the stomping into unconsciousness of 15-year-old Wanganui schoolgirl Robin de Jong by a classmate.

The two incidents, which have sparked a heated response on talkback radio, in letters to editors and in the blogosphere, even prompted prime ministerial comment.

John Key said he was worried about "thuggish-type behaviour that needs to stop" and instructed his Education Minister Anne Tolley to write to all boards of trustees, reminding them of their responsibilities.

The response, while no doubt sincerely intended, was rather wet, and echoed that of Sydney's Department of Education, which has given all schools until December to ensure their "anti-bullying plan complies with the updated policy".

Unsurprisingly, the deputy principal at Robin de Jong's school said it had "zero tolerance" of bullying and an anti-bullying programme. No doubt Chifley College has the same. But parents know as well as politics-watchers that there is a world of difference between policy and practice.

There's a case to be made that the widespread circulation of the bullying videos exaggerates the risk by virtue of their dramatic presentation of the problem. The vast majority of our children come home from school each day without having been stomped into insensibility.

But the videos and the horrified public discussion about them serve a useful purpose, by confronting us with the reality of an ugly problem we cannot ignore, or seek to dismiss as aberrant variation from policy and best practice.

In public discussion of the matter, statements of the obvious abound: bullies are, by definition, troubled individuals, almost invariably being bullied in their turn; the rights of victims should be given precedence over those of their tormentors; retaliation is cathartic but is counterproductive since an eye for an eye makes everyone blind.

We need to grapple with something more radical: how social breakdown, related to economic disadvantage, fuels anti-social behaviour. And we must look at how our adult culture - sport, reality television, cinema, advertising - is saturated with images of violence.

John Key's idea of convening a meeting of experts to see if New Zealand schools have best practice in place to counter bullying is worthy. But we all have a duty in this matter. Educating our kids and our mates to understand that violence is not OK - is never OK - is too important a job to be left to experts.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Bashed school girl 'bled from ears'

24 Mar 04:30 PM
New Zealand|crime

'Never back down from a bully' - Herald readers react

24 Mar 11:47 PM
New Zealand|crime

Attack 'the most horrible thing ever' - victim's mother

25 Mar 02:33 AM
New Zealand|education

To fight or not to fight

25 Mar 04:30 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Crime

Crime

'Didn't think I was going very fast': Uncle pleads guilty after toddler's fatal fall from ute

09 Jul 07:41 AM
Crime

'I'm going to shank him': Witness recalls accused man's prediction before killing

09 Jul 04:09 AM
Crime

Mt Eden prison murder-accused, victim both known to mental health services

08 Jul 07:15 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Crime

'Didn't think I was going very fast': Uncle pleads guilty after toddler's fatal fall from ute

'Didn't think I was going very fast': Uncle pleads guilty after toddler's fatal fall from ute

09 Jul 07:41 AM

Aitua Puriri said he didn't believe he was driving very fast at the time his nephew fell.

'I'm going to shank him': Witness recalls accused man's prediction before killing

'I'm going to shank him': Witness recalls accused man's prediction before killing

09 Jul 04:09 AM
Mt Eden prison murder-accused, victim both known to mental health services

Mt Eden prison murder-accused, victim both known to mental health services

08 Jul 07:15 PM
How an engineer's introduction to underworld poker games led to $1m Watercare fraud

How an engineer's introduction to underworld poker games led to $1m Watercare fraud

08 Jul 07:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP