Earlier this week, a video surfaced of a group of kids just beating the snot out of a fellow student on Dean College’s campus and stealing his sneakers.
Here’s the vid if you care to watch a kid getting beat on. I didn’t watch the whole thing because it sickens me but the school’s response to it was interesting.
Nine students have been expelled so far because of the video.
According to Inside Higher Ed:
At first, officials who got word of the fight Friday afternoon suspended only the main perpetrator. (The college’s public safety office received numerous calls about the fight when it happened.) But once they got wind of the video early this week, they started tracking down the others who cheered the fight on or “actively stood by,” said Dean spokesman John Marcus.
“It goes against the Dean College code of conduct and community standards,” Marcus said. “You don’t stand around and watch one of the members of your community be pummeled, basically, and not do anything to help him.”
“Actively stood by.” It’s almost an oxymoron but I dig it.
I think I’m completely on board with the school here. You stand by and watch someone take a beatdown without so much as a yelp of protest, you’re guilty. No, you’re not as guilty as the guy doing the beatdown but you’re guilty of doing nothing.
As they say, all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
As much as I support the school though, it goes against what young people have been taught for years in that you don’t confront bullies. You know what that moment needed – a young man who wasn’t afraid of getting punched a few times if it meant stopping someone from getting a serious beat down. That moment called for someone who was willing to throw a few punches himself. That moment called for someone to say, “You’re going to have to go through me.”
But we’ve wussified an entire generation by telling them fighting is ALWAYS WRONG when it’s not. For some odd reason, I’ve seen more women standing up for people than I do men. I think it has something to do with them not thinking that they’ll get hit because they’re women but it’s brave to stand up no matter what when you don’t know the consequences.
I had older brothers so I learned early that getting a beating wasn’t the end of the world. And my older brothers had friends who also liked to teach me the same lesson. (In their defense I had a smart mouth.)
But if you want someone to stop a beating, it might be good if young men had gotten into a few scrapes themselves and weren’t afraid of getting hit. But kids today are brought up playing flag football instead of tackle or even two hand touch, they play Spud instead of dodge ball, and they’re told that fighting is never an appropriate response.
And then we’re shocked when these kids grow up to be men who aren’t willing to throw a punch or take one.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m for the College’s stance on this thing but we’ve got to be consistent.
December 7, 2011 at 3:57 pm
We should remember: “Do not stand idly by while your brother’s blood is at stake.” Leviticus 19:16
December 7, 2011 at 4:40 pm
I think the problem is less flag football vs. tackle football (maybe I'm biased, since my husband won't let the boys play tackle and despises the "Friday Night Lights" culture), but is much more that most kids today don't have older brothers. You might keep your nose clean at school to avoid being expelled, but rarely do you get kicked out of a family for fighting. No amount of "peace, love and happiness" talks on my part can completely eliminate my sons' need to work their differences out physically.
December 7, 2011 at 4:54 pm
The whole video needs to be watched. Several of those who "stood by" hooted and hollered in approval and then taunted the victim.
December 7, 2011 at 5:22 pm
"But we've wussified an entire generation by telling them fighting is ALWAYS WRONG when it's not."
YES!
I teach a self-defense class that is mainly for women (you would be surprised how many guys want to come.) But NONE of them will HIT. It drives me crazy.
They are there to learn how to save their own life or someone else's but it takes forever to get them used to the idea of simply hitting. In fact, it takes some women hitting me as hard as they can, dozens of times (and some guys, too) before they realize that it is not like the movies, you punch someone hard and they just pass out. (This makes for some rough classes for their instuctor!)
I think it comes from the fallacious philisophy that says:
1. All people can be reasoned with
2. Tolerance is a virtue
Should we be surprised, then, that as country of individuals taught to never fight, we extend this philosophy to our international relations?
We think every country can be reasoned with and that dialog is always the answer. We get tired of conflict and just want to call a time out and go have some Sunny D together. We stand by and watch countries bully each other, and us, and we threaten to use strong language if need be. Ugh.
As for flag football – it hurts too if you play it right!
December 7, 2011 at 9:01 pm
I confess to almighty God, and to you , my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done…
AND IN WHAT I HAVE FAILED TO DO.
Good for the school, in punishing the failure to what is right.
December 7, 2011 at 9:16 pm
My grandson was jumped by two older boys after school when he was 13. He defended himself. The school response was to punish him equally with the aggressors. The principle told my daughter and son-in-law that violence is violence and the proper response to being attacked, is to assume a fetal position and allow the attack to continue. Is it any wonder society is producing two groups of young people: bullies and cowards.
December 7, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Though the video has been taken down, I'm willing to bet that the college views these bystanders not as neutral witnesses but as partisan supporters of the aggression. Such would be morally culpable as approving the wrongs committed.
December 7, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Remember how horrified we all were by that video from China of that sweet baby being run over by a truck, and the passersby just moving on without helping her, and watching her get run over again! What's the difference here? What are we letting ourselves become? And again, Sandusky's actions being witnessed by another coach (can't remember his name) and he slinks off to tell his Dad, instead of giving Sandusky a royal tune-up! You know, sometimes I really wish I didn't live on the south side of Chicago. The knuckle heads around here really drive me nuts sometimes. But THIS would never fly around here.
December 8, 2011 at 1:16 am
Why hasn't anyone pointed out the obvious that the attacker is black and the victim white? Will there be hearings on Capitol Hill, will the President speak out against black racial violence against whites? Will the talking heads on TV decry the racism in the attack?
Oh, and will the person who video recorded the fight also be expelled? He actively stood by and did nothing to help the victim either.
December 8, 2011 at 1:36 am
"This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy on shocking and disgusting content".
Well, that's a bit rich considering what YouTube does allow!
December 8, 2011 at 8:04 am
I remember reading about the policies that Columbine High School had in place at the time of the massacre. I was struck by a student saying that the school would punish anybody and everybody for "fighting" — even if they were the victim of a bullying attack and even if they were standing up for a victim. So all the guys in that school were effectively taught by the school authorities, by the ADULTS in the room so to speak, not to get involved.
December 8, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Good thing I wasn't there. Those punks would have to be carried away.
December 9, 2011 at 1:40 am
On the one hand, jumping into the middle of a fight is a good way to get seriously hurt, and often escalates things for the original victim (if someone's already in a mood to hurt people, it's often a bad idea to excite them further).
On the other hand, what, they couldn't even get someone to help? It's not 1983, we all have cellphones now. If I saw something like that, you can bet I'd be calling the cops.
But I think several of the above posters are right, about the "bystanders'" approval of the attack. They should be charged as accessories.
December 9, 2011 at 7:53 am
@Terentia,
I've been thinking about your post. I hope the parents of your grandson fought the school on this. If he had assumed the fetal position, he could have been kicked in the head enough to be brain damaged or killed, or kicked in the liver, kidneys, other organs enough to die from internal bleeding. The school administration is advocating something not only immoral but very dangerous.
December 9, 2011 at 10:16 am
"Call for help"?? LOL! When are the cops or campus security EVER there to help in such cases?? They show up a half hour, "establish perimeters", and afterward draw a line around your corpse. This lie is how skools and the state gets away with not letting people defend themselves.
December 9, 2011 at 10:31 am
Here's a site that still has the video…and audio. It looks like all involved were black, including the victim. They were acting and screeching like animals. I'd be yanking my kid out of that place YESTERDAY. http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh6Oe0p57YMcDOg7Gi
December 9, 2011 at 2:16 pm
@Second most recent anonymous, ask any self-defense instructor, cop, or teacher about jumping into the middle of a fight, and what usually happens when you do.
I'm all for self-defense, gun-ownership, concealed carry (I'm a little uncertain about my state no longer requiring a license for CCW)…but the fact is, it's really dangerous to try and break up a fight. Sure, "when seconds count, the police are just minutes away," but it's unrealistic to expect people to jump into a fight.
It would, of course, all be different in the case of the "armed citizen". Unfortunately, even in states with "shall-issue" concealed carry laws (or states like mine with a concealed-carry right that exists by default, no license needed, though it can be forfeited), many colleges prohibit firearms on campus. Even if they didn't, there's been some studies that show that even when people can concealed-carry, they often don't, the two main reasons being that concealed handguns are often uncomfortable, and that the discovery that another person is packing is a matter of some social delicacy.
Then again, I suppose hitting the unjust aggressor with a chair is still on the table. Huh, I guess that'd be the best solution, provided you can hit him hard enough—you really wanna knock that guy out on the first hit (lots of luck with that, and with not killing him in the process).
Point is, force is complicated, and virtually any response, no matter how justified, is going to have unpleasant side effects.
December 9, 2011 at 7:14 pm
@last Anonymous,
The victim was white. Hate crime?