Casey Heynes, the Aussie kid who gained international fame by bodyslamming a bully, tells his story on Australia’s version of A Current Affair.
He seems like a great kid with a great family.
It’ll bring a tear to your eye. Maybe more than one.
This post was last modified on March 22, 2011
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Kimmy, maybe I have a unique perspective to this whole situation because I've been in both boats. I was once a bully, picked on other kids, learned it was wrong, then eventually became bullied myself. I got in trouble when I was bullying, got in trouble when I was defending myself, and sometimes didn't get in any trouble because no one was around. Now I don't blame Casey for body slamming the kid, he got punched in the face. I do still think there should be ramifications for fighting, for both of them. They're kids, they should be taught that fighting is not the way to solve problems. Adults should be sharing lessons learned and wisdom acquired. Instead I see a bunch of adults with who have never stood up for themselves before in their lives (not necessarily you Kimmy, just the media/interwebs in general) cheering and idolizing this kid. I would love to blame the liberals on this one, but when I see people on Fox saying Richard got his comeuppance, I wonder if I'm the only adult left in this world, he's 12 for crying out loud. Ephesians 6:4 "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord," and yet you said "he (Richard) is a bad person, just because he got the worst of it doesn’t deserve my pity and just because he is 12 he doesn’t get to pitied either." You said "That is my hope too, but since we live in a human world I doubt it, there is evil in this world and there would be always predators hunting for prey," referring to kid. Now these aren't my kids or your kids (as far as I know) but since it seems like the media raises kids more than parents do in today's world, I think the message should be different. I think people should be talking about respecting one another, not about how Richard had it coming. There is not good vs evil in this video, it's a couple kids, Casey stood up for himself (good), but it's the adult response that has me so disappointed in people. Wouldn't it be better to show these kids together, becoming friends, and forgiving one another? I know after every fight I was in as a kid, that's what the adults around us had us do, and ya know what, it works. I hope the media eventually does that, but I can't say I've seen it yet.
(PS, I got work soon so if you respond I may not get back to you till tomorrow)
I am thankful for Casey's sake that the little twerp was not badly injured-from that slam, he could have broken his back. But I applaud Casey's standing up for himself. The little kid just kept on, and kept on and kept on. It was like he was carrying a big sign saying "hit me please!" And this is also good to keep in mind: Whether kids or adults, it is frequently not the big ones you need to worry about. It's the little ones with a complex. Look at Rahm Emmanuel.
Would someone please advise me how I can tell a white newspaper from a black newspaper? Goodness me, I don't wanna get caught reading the wrong one!
Don't worry Thallus, if you buy and read an all black paper by accident, the whites will just smile and nod their heads and think you're a progressive and if the blacks see you reading an all black paper, they'll just think you're stupid...it's a Win Win, they'll both be wrong!
Way to go, kiddo! I, for one, am dang proud of you!
Casey is very undemocratic. He was using his unfairly allocated size to walk through the halls and make smaller kids feel insignificant due to his sizable presence.
The little kid followed the progressive's playbook, courageously leading a movement of like-minded individuals in a campaign to demand social justice and redistribute power throughout the schoolyard.
But this Casey unilaterally refused to bargain collectively. Apparently he's a thug who is unwilling to submit to majority rule.
I don't want to take the analogy too far, but ...
You'll notice that Casey says he had friends earlier in the year but they abandoned him when things started getting tough.
In America we call friends like that RINOs.
Problem is Lanny, we new they were RINO's from the get go and we still gave them the time of day and look what they're doing now.....nothing!
We should have listened to our gut instincts! Man I hate liberals...I don't care what party they say they belong to!
Uhm... that is of course sarcasm right?
Yes. But instructive as an analogy, don't you think?
Apparently the name "Lanny" has not yet become widely recognized as a "purveyor of wit."
I figured that it was... lol just wasn't 100% on that. :-)
Violence as a first resort is, of course, wrong. However, being the victim of bullies myself, the ONLY way they will leave you alone is if you stand up to them. NO one, not the teachers, not the principal, stood up for me. And I was sexually assaulted right in front of them. They laughed and thought it was hilarious. My parents had to sue the school to get the authorities to do something to help me. And I was one of the "popular" kids. God knows what the "unpopular" kids go through. My kids will learn to report to authorities first, but if all else fails, stand up for YOURSELF and to the bullies.
The kid is hardly being slandered when the proof is right there on video. If he and his friends didn't want this out, they shouldn't have taped themselves torturing Casey. And they certainly should not have uploaded the damn video to the web. I say the kid, and all like him, deserves everything he's getting right now.
I am so sorry that happened to you. I agree with you completely, the only thing that dogs understand is force. You have to be strong and you have to stand up to the tormentors in order for them to eventually leave you alone. It is disgusting that the school did not stand up for you and your personal rights. That is what I told Joe it is a nice to be able to say that you have to get an adult to help you, but it is not based on any reality I know, so it is a fantasy. Teachers, principals and other teachers do not want to get involved for fear of being sued, so they err in the side of non-activity, especially if the bully is good at something that brings some prestige to the school be it in academia although most of the times is sports. It is disgusting, that is why I had to stand up for myself and my Mother gave me her blessing. Even if I just had a few friends, the bullies could have hated but they hated from afar. Once you show any degree of fear the bullies will rain down on you like the plague.
I agree this boy is getting everything he deserves and the best thing for him to do is just not get in Casey's face again.
That is the first thing I thought when I read Joe's post... spoken as someone who has never been bullied or picked on a day in his life. My experiences made me stronger... And I was lucky and had friends and parents to support me. Some people just don't have the ability to weather it all that well. Those are the people we have to watch out after.
I just hope that Joe wasn't a bully himself and trying to defend his own behavior. Unfortunately a lot of bullies don't get their comeuppance and seeing someone like Richard getting his could be upsetting. If anything if Joe wasn't a bully, but he just so happens to have had a charmed and protected life, good for him I don't find that to be bad at all, but he has no idea what is happening because he just didn't have the experience.
It is true that bullies do not handle change well and they are just evil people looking for someone to pick on in order to make sense and add value to their lives. The Richard boy was interviewed (I am sure you can find it in youtube) where he does not apologize and accused Casey of being the bully. That doesn't sound like someone to be pitied nor protected from the hate, the disgust and the repercussions of his actions. The boy is a tyrant and he had to be stopped. All I hope that those parents better pay attention, he could start killing animals very soon...
For some reason I tended to attract bullies growing up, but with each and every one I have learnt to be strong in the face of idiocy and evil. Like dogs you have to show them that you are in control, once they realize they are useless, unimportant people in your eyes they can continue to hate but they go away.
My prediction is little Casey becomes a professional wrestler and little Richard ends up doing drugs and offing himself by 16 because he has become a media spectacle overnight. Think about it, this bully is now being bullied by the MSM and interwebs. This kid, a 12 year old, is being slandered over a 40 second video and made to look worse than Hitler. I just saw Megyn Kelly talking about having empathy for kids that have been bullied, but could you imagine being 12 and becoming the worst person in the world overnight. So sure, Casey has allegedly been bullied in his past, but should that be justification for an all out attack on Richard?
I get the point of this story. A kid standing up for himself and you would think their roles would have been reversed. But I find it unbelievable that adults are taking sides. They should both be punished but now the media has told kids that it's not only OK to retaliate against a bully but it's endorsed and rewarded. It's fine to teach your son to defend himself, but you punish him when he takes a swing at another kid because it's wrong, you don't make him a hero. (maybe a give him a pat on the back when his mother is not looking) I just think this story has been handled irresponsibly by most people so far. With the way kids sit in front of computers now-a-days, if some little psychopath is being bullied who knows what he or she might think is justifiable retaliation after seeing all praise for Casey and the roses throw in front of his feet.
My prediction is that Casey and Richard become friends, and go on to live normal lives. Both of these kids learned a valuable lesson. Casey learned that the only way to deal with a bully, is to stand up to him. Defending yourself is an honorable thing. Richard learned that being a bully is not cool. It can also be painful.
I gave you a thumbs up because I do respect your point of view and I agree on some issues, but I disagree on some key parts of your discourse. I agree that perhaps there should be more discussion about not retaliating and getting an adult and what not... however all of that is not based on reality.
By your post I don't think you have ever been bullied. If you ever had been bullied, you would understand perfectly what was going on inside of Casey and why he was suffering in silence. You would understand why he did what he did and why people (ESPECIALLY adults) are reacting to him the way we are. Without that experience it is difficult to explain in words why is it that people are cheering him on and so on and so forth. This is not a cry to have all people body slam other people, I think that you are taking this the wrong way and again because I suspect you have never been bullied.
As far as Richard is concerned what he did WAS wrong and he is a bad person, just because he got the worst of it doesn't deserve my pity and just because he is 12 he doesn't get to pitied either. If Richard hadn't started anything NONE of this would have happened to him. Even though young, he should still be responsible for his actions and it is best for him to pay for it now and to learn that next time he wishes to be a tyrant he will get negative consequences out of it.
And hopefully he will stand as a cautionary tale to other would-be bullies.
That is my hope too, but since we live in a human world I doubt it, there is evil in this world and there would be always predators hunting for prey. What I do hope would be more plausible is for more Caseys to hang in there and stand up for themselves as examples for others in the future. I understand that there are some people that are worried about the ramifications of violence, but what we must do is hope that people get the point which is that bullying is wrong and both adults and kids should stand up against it.
The scrawny little upstart says that Casey punched first... um, did anyone else see this tape? If Casey punched first, the kid wouldn't be standing to sissily jab Casey in the face and stomach. He would have been hunched over crying and calling for the teacher because big, bad Casey hit him. Besides, his description of his life during the last few years/decade is spot on for someone who has really been bullied for a lifetime.
"'E was bein' a pain."
The kids a hero for sure.