JEDDAH, 26 October 2005 — A recently made Bluetooth clip being circulated in a number of Internet forums has produced resentment and anger among Saudis. The clip shows a teacher brutally beating an 11-year-old boy with a wire.
In the two-minute clip the student is struck a number of times on his palms as the teacher demands that the boy hold his hands up in order to facilitate the beating. Later the boy, screaming in pain, begs the teacher to stop the beating since he is unable to hold his hands up any longer. The teacher continues to beat him on different parts of his body, completely ignoring the boy’s pleas for mercy. Finally, the boy manages to escape and run away with the teacher still hitting him and throwing the wire at him. It is clear from the clip that the boy is trying to explain to the teacher that he is innocent of whatever wrongdoing he is accused of.
The Internet forums which showed the clip said that another teacher who witnessed the incident filmed it. Some said that it took place in the teachers’ room at the school.
A source at the Education Ministry said that such incidents were dealt with quickly and that, if confirmed, quick action would be taken against those violating rules and regulations.
Ministry rules forbid any kind of physical or mental abuse of students though some teachers still resort to beating from time to time.
“The ministry’s weak supervision and the leniency of the school administration are the main reasons for physical abuse in our schools,” said Nawal Ali, a teacher.
She said it was impossible for the ministry with its limited number of supervisors to be aware of what is going on in every school. “School administrations must take a large part of the blame as they are directly responsible for the teachers’ behavior,” Nawal added.
Abdullah Al-Otaibi, a father of six, asked angrily: “Why didn’t the teacher who filmed the incident stop it?” He argued that instead of filming what happened, he should have acted immediately by stopping the teacher or at least informing the principal.
Amal Hussain, a social worker and counselor, pointed out that studies show that students who are victims of physical abuse usually lag behind their peers in academic achievement but are also more likely to resort to violent behavior in later years than students who were not victims.
