Editorial: Kids need values in life

Confidence, consequence, respect and ownership are the four values I try to live my life by. These four values are what I believe were missing when a 13-year-old girl decided to arrange a fight with another girl. A 35-second video showing two Western Heights High School students fighting shows the ugly side of our society.

Not only did it show the 13-year-old in a bad light but also those around her who not only stood back and watched but either joined in or, worse still, filmed it. Like many who have seen the video, I was horrified by the level of violence inflicted on the 16-year-old.

It's easy to point the finger at the parents of the 13-year-old child and say "where were they?" or "what have they taught this kid?". But there were others there who are equally guilty by association. We as a whole have a role to play in the incident.

Perhaps if our children were taught to have the confidence to stand up and say "no, this isn't right", or the confidence within themselves to say "I don't need to fight to impress my mates", this ugly incident and video may not have taken place.

What if this child was taught to think about the consequences of her actions? Maybe she wouldn't be writing on her Facebook page: "What am I going to do now?" She's actually lucky she didn't kill someone.

Our children need to be taught to respect one another.

Finally there is ownership - ironically this fight took place on a day the school was launching its anti-bullying campaign.

We as a society need to take responsibility and say, this type of thing shouldn't happen. Start at home, teach those nearest to you acting in a violent manner isn't acceptable. It doesn't make you stronger. It makes you weaker when you succumb to a primal urge to attack, rather than have the strength to walk away.