For some reason, bullying has often been pegged as a normal part of growing up, usually being the first preview to the harsh realities of life. While sticks and stones break bones, words provoke the same outcome; just ask Casey Heynes, the 15-year-old Australian YouTube sensation who finally found the courage to stand up to his tormentors.
Casey, like many others (including myself), was teased for being overweight. At his age, my heaviest was about 243lbs, and though being six feet tall balanced out some of my physical attributes, the scars from the teasing remained. Self-esteem and insecurity are defining factors that affect and shape our lives and characters. What happens, however, when a person is pushed too far?
In Casey’s instance, he’s now become an unlikely hero to many who remain without a voice of their own. While violence, especially involving children, shouldn’t be advocated, it’s unavoidable growing up in today’s society. Someone will always seek to quell their own inner angst by picking on the fat kid, the foreign kid, the possibly gay kid, and anyone else who is different, no matter the consequences.
Both boys were interviewed; the Bully, Richard Gale, after being humiliated in front of the world’s eyes, audaciously attempted to redeem his dignity to no avail, saying Casey attacked him first.
As Casey’s story further unfolds, it’s clear how being bullied has dramatically affected his life, citing how his worst encounter—being duct taped to a tree—drove him to thoughts of suicide.
While I was never taped to a tree, suicide did cross my mind, as I was mocked, punched, kicked, and ditched by my peers. My poor self-image prevented me from dating and trying out for sports, and is probably why I’m more outgoing now as an adult. Like Casey, I was also viewed as a gentle giant, but after I flipped out on a kid in 6th grade, and the entire class of 42 kids (it was a Bronx Public School after all) plus the teacher still couldn’t hold me back, I realized then that, no matter what, I’d better keep my temper in check.
For the most part, remorse is scarce for the young Mr. Gale; irony and karma have left him at the mercy of a worldwide wolf-pack of cyber bullies. While calls for death and dismemberment from overzealous commentators are ridiculous, the question remains: just what lesson should come out of this? Retribution in the form of standing up to a bully is one of the most rewarding feelings the bullied can feel; confidence can only ever come from within.
Whatever the outcome, a child’s life should not be jeopardized, period. Be that at the hands of another child, or self-inflicted as a result of severe mental anguish brought on by another, there is no innocence in driving someone to commit suicide or murder. Conundrums often wield double-edged swords, no matter where in the world they’re swung, no matter the language spoken. In a perfect world, there wouldn’t be bullying, and everyone would accept each other for who and what they are. The harsh truth, however, is that this world, along with the people in it, are far from perfect.
About Robert Rios III
Great post, Robert. I have a friend who is walking from Scranton, PA to Greensboro, NC in memory of a teen who took his own life because of bullying. It’s time for parents, teachers, family and friends to wake up and stop the madness.
This post is on point. I hugely advocate against bullying after suffering from it myself from 4th grade until 7th, when I also fought back my biggest tormentor, and realized also i had to keep my temper in check because I hit her with a chair after she slammed me in the head with a textbook. People have no idea how much it affects someone, when it gets to the point that an 11-year-old is contemplating or even completing suicide. It’s not just the schools that need to wake up but also parents. It’s a vicious cycle and it’s sad that once the bully gets a good knuckle-up.
Thanks for sharing this story with us. As a child I was bullied because that was what kids did to each other in school. I learned at an early age to talk myself out of situations. These two young boys were first failed by their parents. How is it that Casey’s dad was not aware of the bullying his son experienced for so many years. When I was bullied as a small child my mother was there to protect me. Later on when my son got bullied, his father and I were there at the school, meeting with the parents of the other kids involved. So when my son experienced problems at school in the future he knew how to tell the principal what was going on and nipped it in the butt. Bullying is not limited to young children, it can manifest itself in the work place, in relationships, and your community. We must learn not to let fear define you, or the opinions of others, or the pressure of society to conform to some warped image. As long as we fail to take a stand and do not defend the right of another to be different, we will see more acts of violence, youth suicides, and twisted calls from cyber bullies for more violence.
I turned out okay… I lost weight thanks to Lactose Intolerance, and gained my confidence once I started to really believe in my talent. Plus once I developed my sense of humor and sarcasm-fu, I didn’t have to fight, my words did it for me. Casey just struck a serious chord with me, especially when you have people jumping to extreme. It’s not just with obesity, look at all these kids that kill themselves b/c of their sexual identity crises. If people weren’t so scared of differences, we’d be better off as a whole.
Bullying is a terrible thing and schools don’t do enough in my opinion to put a stop to it. Bullying also occurs on the school buses and there was an incident of a father from FL whose child was being bullied and he went on the bus and flipped out on the kid and was arrested How is this fair? I can’t imagine his frustration with the school and system overall. There has to be zero tolerance put in place so the msg is clear that this won’t be tolerated. It shouldn’t have to take a parent going to jail or a child taking their own life. I was bullied as a kid and I winded up punching my agressor and being suspended for a week but I just had enough and I snapped it happened so fast I didn’t realize I had done it until I saw the kids bloody nose. The older kids get the worse it is.