Page 28 - Mini-Module 4

Case Study 3

Like wildfire a 6-second video clip was sent from mobile
phone to mobile phone reaching the majority of the
school’s student population. The clip was also sent to
some parents and within the hour had made it to the desk
of the local newspaper editor. The clip – taken by a
student on his mobile phone - showed a distressingly
violent fight on the school grounds. In the clip one boy
was seen punching and kicking another boy on the ground
while around the boys was a large crowd of students
yelling “Kick him!” and “Let the **** have it”.
The editor scanned out 8 images and printed them on the
front page of the paper with the head line “HORROR AT
HIGH SCHOOL”. This news item created a storm of ‘letters
to the editor’ most of which condemned of the school and
of the ‘lax’ standards of teachers.
Within 2 days, 8 families took their children from the
school and enrolled them elsewhere. The principal of the
school came under intense criticism for his handling of the
matter, and was threatened with removal from his post.

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