Strings of Fear: Bystander Heroes
Reports of bullying are everywhere now. Efforts to raise public awareness have been very successful! Yet there is a down side to this in that people throw the word “bullying” around indiscriminately at times calling any single incident of name calling or mutual fighting “bullying”. Even worse, many incidents of bullying actually contain all the elements of serious crimes, but are simply labelled bullying so the police are not informed. These include felonies such as Robbery or Extortion.
The movie Strings of Fear includes several scenes which were based on real felonies in schools. One of the most poignant cases I ever had was an Extortion case. In this case the school and police had done an excellent job of identifying the crime, but when the victim appeared in the waiting area of the Court he was unable to answer the basic questions that I asked him about the facts of the case. He was a nice looking, tall, slim high school student with a shy demeanor. He hesitated before answering, then gave short answers punctuated with much stuttering. Eventually, I was able to painfully extract from him the following facts: on the day charged, the defendant, who was not his friend, had walked up to him without saying a word and put out his hand and the victim had handed him all his money. No verbal or physical threats had been made. With just those facts, the State didn’t have a case.
But, it didn’t add up. Why would a student give another boy his money, just because that boy put out his hand? Based on my experience with bullying cases, I knew there had to be a history and a pattern, but at this point the victim had clammed up and would not talk with me at all.
Luckily, there was a witness. What an impressive young man! He did not know the victim, but he had seen the defendant and his henchmen approach the victim that day and on other occasions. After noticing the most recent transaction, he spoke with the victim, learned that they had been extorting money from him all school year, and advised the victim that he needed to tell somebody. The victim was afraid to tell. He absolutely refused. That is when this amazing witness, who did not even know the victim, told the victim that something had to be done, that he could not just keep giving his money to these guys. He said he would go with the victim to the assistant principal and help him explain what was happening! This kid was more than willing to testify if needed. He just knew what was happening was wrong, and he wanted to see the right thing done. It’s kids like him that make me hopeful for the future of our youth!
In addition, the parents of the victim had told me that there was a counselor at school with whom the victim was comfortable that might be able to help him open up and talk. I called that counselor and he left school immediately and came right over. With the skillful help of this caring and compassionate counselor, the victim was soon able to answer my questions with a minimal amount of stuttering. By asking the right questions, centering on what had happened in the past which led up to the incident, I learned that the bully and his henchmen had approached the victim at the beginning of the school year, grabbed him and threatened to beat him up if he didn’t give them all his money. After that, the bullies approached him every day, but the threats became less blatant and finally were completely unspoken. The victim was terrified and continued to supply them with money, out of fear.
These facts supplied all the necessary elements of the crime. The Defendant took a plea. If that witness had not stepped up and not only offered to help the victim, but physically gone with him to the office, the extortion would not have been stopped. The bystander didn’t have to get involved. He could have looked the other way and minded his own business. But, he didn’t. Just like the Danish people who helped the Jews in the Holocaust, he was simply doing the decent thing. But to me, he was a hero!
The extortion scene in the film, Strings of Fear, takes place in the cafeteria when the bully and his henchmen threaten to beat up Josh if he doesn’t give them his money. To see how the witness in the movie reacts without watching the entire film, watch the IMDb clip. This scene portrays a typical extortion, but threats to reveal embarrassing information if the person doesn’t deliver property also qualify as extortion. The key is the instilling of fear in the victim.
Do you have real stories of bystanders who became heroes? I’d love to hear them.
