YouTube and the new dawn of accountability

Viral web videos of racist rants and bullying pave the way for greater accountability among schools

Videos going viral on YouTube is nothing new, but last week two videos went viral and brought up some major accountability issues for the schools involved. 

The first was the anti-Asian rant posted on YouTube by busty blond UCLA student Alexandra Wallace last Monday--just days after Japan was devastated by a 9.0 earthquake and deadly tsunami that has left some 8,000 people missing. In the video, Wallace rants about "hordes of Asian people" at UCLA and their families visiting on the weekends. She puts particular emphasis on her beef with Asian students who, she claims, talk on their cell phones in the library. She titled the video blog post "Asians in the Library" and was so pleased with her own cleverness that she evidently had plans to turn it into a series under an "Asians in the Library" domain. 

UCLA can't exactly police all of its students and their opinions, however xenophobic, and it isn't even clear whether or not UCLA can expel Wallace since it's a free speech issue. But here's where I do think UCLA is completely blame-worthy: What the hell is this girl studying at UCLA? Let me guess: Communications. At one point, she imitates a Chinese person on the phone, yelling "Ohhh! Ching chong, ling long, ting tong!" And then follows that up with "they're probably checking up on their family from...the...tsunami...thing." Which was in Japan. 

So basically, UCLA is just letting anyone into its school now, regardless of whether or not they know the difference between China and Japan. 

The second video that calls forth questions about school accountability comes from Australia, where a bullied teen was filmed retaliating against his attacker. In the video, Casey Heynes, an overweight tenth-grader, is cornered on school grounds and punched repeatedly in the face and stomach by a seventh-grader until he finally snaps, picks the boy up, and slams him into the ground before turning and walking away. The video quickly went viral and Heynes has become a Web hero of sorts, with nicknames like The Punisher and Zangief Kid. Websites have been created in his honor and swarms of articles and news clips have followed the story, characterizing it as the case of a gentle giant who heroically fought back against bullying. 

Both boys were suspended from school for four days, despite the fact that in the video--while a throng of students had gathered around the fight to watch and cheer--not a single teacher stepped in to break up the fight. 

While the case has sparked worldwide conversations about bullying and how the school should have handled the situation (i.e. whether Casey's actions were justifiable or whether the school was right to suspend him), the bigger question is, Where were the adults? Who's running that joint? Why did teachers and school officials let that kind of violence go on for so long without stepping in until the victim fought back? How long would that kind of abuse have gone on if the video hadn't called global attention to Chifley College and its failure to protect its students? 

Notorious hacktivism group Anonymous broke into Chifley College's website and posted a message condemning the school's failure to provide a violence-free environment for its students and its subsequent decision to suspend Casey Heynes for defending himself. 

The video of Casey Heynes went viral around the same time that Barack and Michelle Obama posted an anti-bullying video message on Facebook. 

The good news is that while these videos are simultaneously tragic, terrifying, and annoying, they're pointing to the potential for greater accountability among administrators and teachers.