"MAN IN THE MIRROR."

Namtira Bwala; the girl who was bullied at LBS

There's a video making the rounds on social media that has sparked outrage among internet users, and rightfully so. In the video, a girl can be seen standing helpless while being slapped repeatedly by another girl.

I'm not sure what the context is: are they classmates? Or what seems more likely, one is a senior student and the other is a junior student. Now none of the scenes above justifies the actions taken against that dear girl, but there are slightly nuanced thoughts in these different situations.

If they're classmates, well, the sad actions in that video mirror a community with a highly weakened conscience. There are so many videos of people being beaten to an inch of their life and stomped on while bystanders watch or cheer on the act (I don't mean videos where a person is caught in some crime and meets 'jungle justice'—that isn't good either).

If they're not classmates and it's a case of one student wielding the power of a senior student against another, many of us reacting with outrage (again I say, rightfully so) will need to take a moment to learn the lesson.

Many of us saw that kind of maltreatment and a thousand more. That's not all; some of us, in our days as lords on secondary school campuses, did the exact same and worse. Some folks were so feared by junior students that some students would choose a punishment directly from Satan rather than face them. It's that bad.

So, what's the lesson here?

Many of you who brutalized people's kids in school and were terribly feared are now fathers and mothers; CEOs and corporate workers now, some are even doctors! That misguided youthful zeal that made you act in ways that you're ashamed of today has mellowed. Your values have changed. What are the chances that the young bully in the trending video won't grow up and change too? Think of some of the 'punishments' you gave to your juniors in school back in the day...If a video of it exists, how much outrage will it spark?

Am I saying the bully should be let off free? No, not at all. Between the school, the parents of the victim and the bully, and other relevant stakeholders, adequate and age-appropriate punishment can be dealt.

But more than that, systems that foster bullying in schools should be closely looked at, especially how to manage people who are bold enough to report cases of seniors bullying juniors. People rarely reported back when I was in school, even when they suffered hell because you'd be made to pay dearly in other ways for reporting.

Then beyond these micro-factors, on a large scale, what kinds of entertainment or exposure are making people less and less humane? Here's what you can do: find it in your small area of influence and eradicate it.

Here's another thing you can do, while reading this, you can make up your mind, that if you're ever in the environment of bullying–someone being oppressed by another (be it office bullies, bullies in church, mosque, bullies on the train, bullies anywhere) that you'd speak up for victims or at least attempt to seek redress through appropriate channels!

I felt like saying this may bring some other perspective to the bullying issue with #Namtira and #LeadsBritishSchool."