As would perhaps be expected in a society so torn apart by violence, cruelty is spreading rapidly to our children — and to the school playground. The horrendous incident reported from a government school near Faisalabad, in which a seventh grader was beaten to death by a class fellow and a teacher, raises bullying to levels rarely seen before. We can only imagine how the parents of the unfortunate child, Muhammad Ahsan, who died so young and essentially for no reason at all, are coping with the grief.
According to the shocking report in this newspaper, young Ahsan had been bullied repeatedly by a class-fellow, who was assisted by his uncle, a physical training instructor at the school. The victim’s father states that Muhammad Rizwan had been jealous of Ahsan — a capable student — and had persuaded his uncle to assist him in what amounted to ceaseless tormenting of Ahsan. This time round, things went too far; the child died as a result of the kicks, punches and blows he received to various parts of the body — many of them allegedly from a strong adult. It seems no one at the school intervened or attempted to stop what was happening.
We have seen deaths occur at other schools, in some cases as a result of physical punishment meted out to small children. This incident illustrates too the dehumanizing of society, and how ordinary people appear to have been driven to an increasingly frenzied state in which empathy and respect for life seems to have vanished. The fact that this tendency is passing on to the next generation is even more frightening. We can only wonder what our future will be as such trends grow. An FIR has been registered but that means very little in the context of the terrible tragedy that has taken place. Even if punishment is meted out, it will not change the fact that a young boy was mercilessly killed, nor will it change the nature of a society where such cruelty has become possible.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2011.
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i expected some matured responses by the readers. but here they are discussing problems happening in far distant countries. and does the readers think banning foreign movies, video games, internet will solve the problem in pakistan. if yes, go ahead and do it.
the pakistani society and innocent pakistani childerns need more constructive thoughts and serious acts to prevent future incidents.
This is Sickening! And though this one was a fatal incident, kids have to endlessly brave bullying in school sometimes. It's the parents who need to keep a close eye on their kids to monitor for physical and psychological signs of trauma; And the take appropriate action!
very tragic incident very pain full for the society i think the murderer should hanged till death and the pt teacher also give punishment.May Allah Ahsans soul rest in peace.I am shocked when i listen this incident.Govt. of Punjab should take strict measure to stop these bullying incident in our school.
I'm a teacher and handle bullying issues on a daily basis, however; it is usually of a milder sort. A news of this nature coming from the West would often frighten me where bullying must be a smaller concern since they have to deal with much bigger issues such as murderers in school. Gun-shooting and merciless murders of at times 50 innocent lives, kids bathed in blood because of one heartless student is common in America. I wonder what punishment their society is giving such teenage murderers because now this wave of violence through teenage hollywood movies, video games and wrestling is reaching the tender minds of our innocent children.
As to the matter of video games causing violence, there is a reason why games have a rating given by the ESRB. It is up to the parents to make sure that their children aren't playing video games beyond their age rating as their minds are unable to cope with them.
Firstly, regarding the James Bulger murder, I don't think it was the mindset set by video games, gory video games started in mid-1993 (and then ESRB and other video game rating boards were formed). TV or films could have an impact, but who knows the real reason?
Secondly, regarding Ahsan's death, I fully agree media should have monitoring boards with strict policies for the people in Pakistan, rating boards to be established and parental controls be encouraged. But media isn't the killer for Ahsan's death, it's a murder of personal motifs, which again is a letdown of humanity in our country. I also feel bullying should be properly monitored and prohibited in our schools to save our future generations.
Sadly violence by children in children is becoming more common in many parts of the world, especially in North America and Europe where bullied kids take up guns to kill their classmates. The horrendous killing of a toddler (Bulger) by older children in the UK was unfathomable when it was shown on the TV to a shocked nation. Is this due to the media or video games. When video games come to Pakistan in greater measure, I fear there will be even more child and youth violnce.