ATAR Notes: Forum
General Discussion => General Discussion Boards => News and Politics => Topic started by: costargh on April 17, 2008, 11:48:45 am
-
Couple bashed daughter's 14-year-old bully
Thursday Apr 17 10:00 AEST
A couple has avoided jail after they confronted and bashed a 14-year-old girl who had been bullying their teenage daughter.
Stephen Lester Baker and his wife Suzane Maree Baker took matters into their own hands because they felt Queensland police and Beenleigh High School ignored their pleas for action, the Courier Mail reports.
The Bakers went searching for the bully — known only as Rachel — and cornered her in a park on April 3, 2006.
Stephen Baker punched Rachel four times in the face while telling her "no one hits my daughter", prosecutor Nicholas McGhee told Beenleigh District Court.
His wife then grabbed the girl by the hair and hit her repeatedly.
The Bakers' lawyers told the court the couple were frustrated by what they saw as inaction after a number of violent bullying episodes, including one where their daughter's head was reportedly smashed against a toilet wall.
But Judge Ian Dearden said Stephen and Suzane Baker had acted appallingly and gave them suspended jail terms of six and three months respectively.
"Instead of looking for the bully, you should . . . (have been) driving to the police station," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Judge Dearden said criminal charges could still be brought against Rachel.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=448545
-
... You hit my daughter, that's wrong! Now I'm going to hit you!!!
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and soon the whole world will be blind and toothless.
-
Well it make sense, if the police and school are completely useless, I wouldn't blame the couple for acting on behalf of their daughter.
-
Well it make sense, if the police and school are completely useless, I wouldn't blame the couple for acting on behalf of their daughter.
I agree. They were acting rationally. This is also why drug-dealing gangs go to such extreme measures to protect their private property (which is declared illegal by the State).
-
They could've just talked to her
Reminds me of Adrian Mole :-\
-
I don't think it's right for two grown adults to both bash up a 14 year old. She probably behaved terribly, but there are better ways to resolve the issue.
-
atleast she won't be bullying again anytime soon
-
I can't see any justification for a "revenge" style attack by two adults on a 14 year old girl. They were not rushing to the defence of their daughter as her head was being smashed into the toilet door. They actively sought the girl out and cornered her in a park before bashing her.
As adults they should be encouraging alternatives to violence when a dispute evolves. They should not be setting an example for their daughter to bash anyone they don't like. Of course if their daughter was being attacked and they rushed to her defence it would be an entirely different story. How about the ethics related to adults bashing children? Makes me sick.
-
Disclaimer: I have not defended "rational" as ethical, moral, or socially favourable. I have only said it was rational.
What this means is that, in light of these events (if they are legitimate), something needs to be done to fix the incentives. Unless proper policing takes place, there will continue to be cases where parents disenfranchised with the legitimacy of authority will take things into their own hands.
-
Okay, firstly in a society like today kids are much bigger smart-arses and sometimes you need to make physical communication with them to get the message through. In this case the parents had no other options in order to teach the bully a lesson due to the fact that the school was useless and the police treated it as not a big deal.
Fair enough what the parents did to the girl was a bit on the edge but what else could they have done? You seriously think just 'talking' to the girl will make her stop? Please. Since when does talking to any 14 year old kid nowadays make them stop something.
-
In this case the parents had no other options in order to teach the bully a lesson due to the fact that the school was useless and the police treated it as not a big deal.
Supposedly...
Just because the parents saw no other alternative doesn't mean there was no other alternative.
Fair enough what the parents did to the girl was a bit on the edge but what else could they have done? You seriously think just 'talking' to the girl will make her stop? Please. Since when does talking to any 14 year old kid nowadays make them stop something.
Spoken to the parents. Spoken to the Education Department. Been very firm with their stance when speaking with the school. Organised mediation between the two girls. Last resort: Taken their daughter out of the school if they felt she was in danger (although I don't believe anyone should have to be taken out of school as the result of bullying as it should be dealt with earlier).
-
It makes you wonder if government bureaucracy works:
Think about it, would you rather contact multiple bureaucracies and wait to be sent through the hierarchy to file a complaint, or would you take things into your own hands? Perhaps the incentives for everyday individuals ought to be reviewed.
-
It makes you wonder if government bureaucracy works:
Think about it, would you rather contact multiple bureaucracies and wait to be sent through the hierarchy to file a complaint, or would you take things into your own hands? Perhaps the incentives for everyday individuals ought to be reviewed.
If you were to put it into context then I would much rather go through the relevant "government bureaucracies" then go and bash a 14 year old girl.
-
No, because sometimes you gotta call for the old school method of teaching lessons and this is one of the cases in which old school lesson teaching was needed.
If I had a 14 year old daughter in school and she was getting bullied by another girl, I would have the urge to roundhouse kick the bully in the head but I wouldn't actually do it. That is of course providing the school does step in and take appropriate action
-
No, because sometimes you gotta call for the old school method of teaching lessons and this is one of the cases in which old school lesson teaching was needed.
If I had a 14 year old daughter in school and she was getting bullied by another girl, I would have the urge to roundhouse kick the bully in the head but I wouldn't actually do it. That is of course providing the school does step in and take appropriate action
Exactly. The parents felt the Queensland police and the school failed to do anything. At this stage they would be disenfranchised with the state of authority, and would feel compelled to take things into their own hands. I'm not condoning it, or even justifying it, I'm just saying that it doesn't help to think they were mentally unfit or abnormal. In fact, they were probably acting rationally - and it may be time to assess what's wrong with the system.
-
I can't beleive some of you are trying to justify a violent act by two grown adults on a 14 year old girl!
-
I can't beleive some of you are trying to justify a violent act by two grown adults on a 14 year old girl!
Yeah. I don't think it is justifiable. In all of my posts I have said that I do not attempt to justify the acts, but merely to explain the rationale behind them.
-
I actually agree with coblin =o
It was wrong, but I would say fix the system rather than cry 'the two parents are complete idiots'. Put yourself in their shoes, is what I say.
Again, I'm not condoning/justifying what they did.