There has been a surge in hatred towards a 16-year-old who was filmed taking part in a racist attack against another schoolboy.
The video which has been shared on social media shows the victim, with his arm in a cast being dragged to the floor by his neck before his attacker says “I’ll drown you”.
He then forces water down his throat. The victim is then seen getting up and walking away.
The overwhelming response has been to support the victim named as ‘Jamal’.
However, there is another side to our nature which is not going to achieve anything in the long run.
Already pictures of the attacker have been shared online and his Facebook page has been dissected.
We are starting to look into his background and the actions of his parents.
But we are better than this. And sharing the photos of the alleged perpetrator who himself is a schoolboy is not the best way forward.
The video has angered many people but we should realise that we are still dealing with a young person.
And our response at this stage is one which needs to be more measured.
The police are investigating the incident but sharing the alleged perpretrators family pictures and hoping for some justice online is reckless and stupid.
Here is a more measured response from one writer and commentator:
I don't think the child who bullied the Syrian kid should be expelled from school. He'll only grow up to hate refugees / brown people even more.
— Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) November 28, 2018
Instead, why not take him to meet a refugee family? Get him to understand the pain the boy went through?
UPDATE: A 16-year-old boy is to be charged with assault over an attack on a 15-year-old Syrian refugee at a school in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Police said.
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