DID you see the video of the schoolboy slapping a schoolgirl in the lift?

Were you shocked at the level of violence?

I was. Where is this kid learning how to hit another human being that way?

In case you missed it, the video, which was posted on Stomp earlier this week and reported in The New Paper on Wednesday, showed a boy slapping a girl numerous times while in a lift.

The girl did nothing to protect herself and the abuse only ended when the lift doors opened and the boy stormed off, seemingly in a huff.

It was senseless and sick.

And it worries me.

Because a kid like this, if he does not learn the error of his ways, could become a real menace as an adult.

I know that you cannot blame the school for the incident.

There will always be black sheep in every flock.

And here, I think we should find more than one person culpable.

While the boy who did the slapping was the main protagonist, I am aghast that someone else was filming the whole thing and putting it up on the Internet.

Why did this second individual not intervene?

Any normal person watching that attack would surely have felt the need to step in and stop the abuse.

But this person seemed more intent on capturing the entire scene for the record.

No intervention

There was no intervention, no move to help and nothing said to stop the assailant.

The person filming this incident should be just as ashamed as the boy slapping the girl.

And I hope that when the principal of the school deals with the incident, he does not forget to take action against this second individual.

I think there is a lesson in this for us parents too.

Are we teaching our kids what to do in such situations?

Do they stand idly by and let bullies get away with hurting others, even if they are not their friends?

I remember how, a few years ago, my daughter came and told my wife and me that there was a girl on her bus whom the other girls were making fun of.

She said she had stood up for the girl by complaining about the other girls to the bus aunty, as she felt sorry for her.

But after that incident, she was worried that the other girls would stop talking to her.

Our response was to immediately praise our daughter for doing the right thing.

I told her that if the other girls expected her to allow bullying to take place in order to be their friend, they were not friends worth having.

Today, I am glad to say that the girl who was being teased and my daughter have become best of friends.

The other girls? Just people on a bus.

I am also going to make sure that my son learns what to do when and if bullies come into his life.

And you can rest assured that standing by the side with a video camera will not be an option.

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