Bullying In Birmingham: Ring the Bell on Youth Violence
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Bullying In Birmingham: Ring the Bell on Youth Violence
Student Jay Chan responds to the recent violent attack on a teenager in Erdington
According to West Midlands Police, they have been investigating an assault that happened in Erdington on 27th of November at 16:14. The police said the victim was 'left bruised and understandably shaken by the assault'. Police have been actively looking for those who can provide footage of the incident (with incident quote 20/958290/22). The BBC has now reported that two teenagers have been arrested.
Footage of the assault was released by a twitter page called 'Brumz Update' which show the scene of the assault from a perspective of one of the peers.
Please note the following video contains distressing violent content
At the start of the video, the victim is dragged by her hair through the streets. Another girl pushes the victim, who tries to run away while being punched, slapped and pushed onto the ground by the bully. When the victim fell to the ground, she was kicked and smashed in the face by four people. The kicking and punching are so hard that the microphone on the phone picks it up clearly. From what Brumz Update has released, the girl was left bruised on her face but luckily isn't seriously injured.
There were about 10 people surrounding the bullies, using their phone to record the scene, laughing at the suffering of the victim. Neither them nor anyone in the neighbourhood had helped the victim, not even trying to stop the incident.
Looking at this awful scene happening somewhere not far from where I live and study and where many of my classmates in Fairfax and many of my friends live is utterly shocking.
When I was back in Hong Kong, at the age of 13, I was bullied by my peers for being different. I received support and help from my teachers and goodhearted people but I feel the pain of victims of bullying, the feeling of helplessness, and I know it is much worse for the girl in the video who was being kicked, punched and laughed at.
I am furious at what I saw in this video, just like everyone who watched the scene, because we are all aware that behind this video are many more victims of different kinds of bullying that is happening all around us, in our schools and our neighbourhoods.
I am grateful that I have been welcomed into my new school, however I know there are many other young boys and girls who do not have the privilege to be accepted and many are being bullied. According to Anti-Bullying by Diana Aware, one in five young people said they had received some form of bullying in the last 12 months.
I reckon it's about time our communities, schools, local authorities and government start to raise more awareness of bullying. We need to involve students, staff and parents in school and provide a platform for students to report their concerns. We need our City Council to stop playing political games but to listen and stand up to the young victims of bullying in our city. We need councillors to care and be aware that there are many more victims being bullied in different ways in their wards.
For those reading this article I hope you will join me and all young people in Birmingham when we say we will not tolerate bullying. May our thoughts and prayers be upon this girl and all of those who are suffering at the hands of shameless bullies.
Written by Jay Chan