A video of a little boy being bullied by a group of his schoolmates in Modern School, Vasant Vihar, went viral on the mobile phone message service, “Whatsapp,” on Wednesday.
The boy, said to be a Class VII student, is seen in the video being repeatedly pushed around by two boys who belong to Class VI, while a small group of other boys stand around and film the whole thing. Bad language is also used. The video, circulated among students, reached some parents who were compelled to complain to the school administration. “We have not seen the video and we do not wish to see it, although my two boys who study in the school received it. This has shaken us up though,” said a parent Deviyani, explaining that she had not personally received any communication from the school but had heard of a parent-teacher meeting scheduled for Thursday to discuss the incident.
We have taken action: principal
The school principal, Meenakshi Sahni, said: “We have already taken appropriate action. This whole incident has given us some more insight into the whole issue of bullying which is prevalent in any school and has compelled us to take some more corrective measures. We have counsellors and give periodic presentations on bullying but now we will take parents also on board to prevent this as much as possible.”
If the whole report of this incident sounds like an exaggeration of a little harmless pushing and shoving that small children do, in normal course of things; a simple phone call received by The Hindu from a boy claiming to be involved in the whole incident, was enough to show that there was more to it than a mere “innocent” play of guileless children. Using unprintable language, the caller asked the correspondent what her business was with his school and why she was calling “people connected to him”. After some more shouting and threats to “back-off,” the call ended with: “Listen girlie I know where you live.”
Needless to say, a complaint has been made to the women’s helpline as well as the school.
