Garth RattrayLAST WEEK a first form student from a Corporate Area traditional, all-boys high school related to me a very disturbing story. He was on a bus trying to make his way home when a fourth form student from the same school, who was seated behind him, threw a small plastic bag containing ice at him. The missile hit him on the side of the face so he threw it back at the bully, also hitting him in the face. When he was not looking, the cowardly bully used a geometry set compass to stab him in the back three times.
Since the incident, the victim has not used public transport. I was the second physician that he had seen because, after three weeks, he was still in a fair amount of pain and the puncture sites remained mildly swollen and tender. I asked about the eventual outcome of the incident and expected to hear that the bully was identified, arrested and charged with wounding pending an appearance in juvenile court. However, I was flabbergasted to learn that when the matter was reported to the police, the headmaster of the school refused to allow the law officers to accompany the stabbed victim on a walk-through of the fourth form for him to identify the perpetrator. I was told that the headmaster had reservations about disrupting the classes and feared that the incident could escalate into one of retaliation against the victim for reporting the matter to the police.
UNFAIR AND UNETHICAL
Certainly, if the victim were the son of an influential parent, the situation would have been handled properly. It is unfair and unethical to treat people differently based on their social or economic circumstance. This sort of thing breeds contempt for authority and society, and can lead to anti-social behaviour. We are all equal in God's sight and we are entitled to equal treatment under the law. I can't imagine a government minister (for example) being told that his son will just have to suck up the assault because the investigation would disrupt a few classes and perhaps lead to animosity.
It is precisely this sort of reasoning that leads people to take matters into their own hands. Different parents would lay in wait outside the school gates until they found the bully and exact revenge. When the established system fails, then vigilantism takes over and people mete out their own brand of justice. When someone is treated unfairly, then he/she loses respect for self and society. This is what happens in many inner-city communities. This is the sort of thing that leads to some of the murders that we hear about every day. We must ensure that justice is fair, swift and efficient or else brace ourselves for the repercussions of our inaction.
SKEWED APPRECIATION
This bully, emboldened by the fact that he stabbed someone without consequences, will stab again or, perhaps, end up killing someone in the future. Criminals have poor sequential reasoning. Their appreciation of right and wrong is skewed by events such as these. For one reason or another, their parents and friends shield them from the outcome of their deeds and now this headmaster appears to be doing the very same thing. Our society is already permeated with people at all levels who take no personal responsibility for their actions. Eventually, the entire country ends up paying for their mistakes.
Obviously, the investigation of a reported case of stabbing supersedes the authority of a headmaster and empowers the police to look over the student body in search of the suspect. The police must not be swayed by placating arguments. They have a responsibility to the victim and to society. If they fail to apprehend this bully, then we may have to deal with him when he is all grown up and fully entrenched in a life of crime. This incident will prove pivotal in the lives of these two boys. One has learnt that, for some, justice can and will be denied. The other boy has learnt that he can get away with just about anything. I wonder where this experience will lead them.
Dr. Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
