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Bullying surfaces at Samoa's St. Joseph school

A shocking video that shows two students taking turns at beating another student while others look on, surfaced yesterday.

The footage – leaked to the Samoa Observer by a former student who said he is embarrassed by its content – was shot at the end of April.

The video is more than a minute long. It shows a student – who is larger in size – slapping and punching a smaller student sitting on a bench. The bully lands several shots on the face snapping the abused student’s head back and forth. A second student then jumps in with closed fists and starts punching the face of the student who was already in tears.

Asked for a comment yesterday, Director of Catholic Education, Ae’au Chris Hazelman said they don't condone the behavior shown in the video. The two students involved have been expelled from the school. “The parents of these students were called to the school and we gave them video to watch,” said Ae’au. “They did not want to watch the video. They were extremely sorry about what their children had done.”

 

Ae’au said the parents have already apologised to the victim and his parents. The Director pointed out that the Catholic education system does not tolerate bullying.

“We have already reminded students of all the Catholic schools that bullying is a big no in school,” he said. “If anyone is caught doing it, he or she will be expelled immediately.

“It will also become a matter for the police.” The video has again highlighted the need for schools to monitor the availability of mobile phones within school compounds.