How safe are our children abroad? ways to stop bullying

Yet again a disturbing footage of an Indian-American boy being verbally and physically bullied by his white classmate has taken the social media by storm. Since the time the video has gone viral, it has created outrage and sparked anger and criticism not only on social media but amongst the Indian diaspora as well as the Indians back home. It questions the safety of students of Indian Origin in the U.S. and other countries.  

The disturbing footage of an Indian-American student who was choked for over four minutes by a white student at Coppell Middle School in a suburb of Dallas has sparked outrage. The victim was assaulted in the cafeteria, wherein few of his classmates recorded the entire video and shared it online while the rest witnessed the entire scene as bystanders. To add to his woes, the teen in the chokehold faced 3 days suspension while his assaulter received just one day. This further questions the dual yardstick wherein unjust and harsher treatment was further meted out to the victim at the hands of the school authorities even though he chose not to react to the assault verbally or physically while the perpetrator could just get away with one day. What is even more infuriating is that the school authorities brushed this incident under the carpet by calling it an “altercation” as told by Shaan’s mother.

Here’s  the detailed account of the entire incident that reportedly took place on May 11 according to the viral footage-

Shaan Pritmani, the  Indian Origin boy who can be seen being assaulted in the school premises in the video, only fault was that he refused to vacate the seat in the cafeteria during lunchtime as demanded by the white student who then can be seen putting him  in a headlock.  In the Video, Shaan can be repeatedly heard saying “No, I’m not getting up. There is literally no one sitting here,” and trying to get himself free of his attacker’s hold. This made his assaulter angrier and he tormented the victim further by pressing his neck from behind with his elbow before choking him and pushing him against his seat until he fell on the floor. 

The video with horrendous violence  which went viral showing a boy of Indian Origin victimized at the hands of the perpetrator who continued to torment him until he fell off his seat and their classmates who acted as mere spectators, brings forth the plight of Indian students staying abroad. It raises many questions regarding their safety, the treatment meted out to them in school premises at the hands of other students, besides the role of school authorities in handling such assault incidents. 

The parents of Shaan Pritmani have now sought legal representation as they await the internal investigation of the school to end. There is an online petition on protection from school assault with over two lakhs signatories supporting the Indian-American boy and is available on Change.org.

Physical as well as verbal Bullying has become a grave issue of concern as this is not the first case of assault of Indian students in the US. It needs to be dealt with seriously with some stringent consequences for the perpetrators so as to set an example for the rest that Indians are not easy targets.

Here's our expert Kumkum Jagdish, who's a counsellor and a psychologist. She will help us with practical ways we can stop bullying and help make schools and homes a safe place for our children.