A Reader called us to report that a video was circulating among young people in Bolesławiec, showing a young girl taking a boy’s phone and “beating him up.” (That was the word used by the person who reported it.)
The footage shows a young blonde girl taking the phone from a teenager wearing a baseball cap. She orders him to apologize and demands that he kneel. First, she slaps him twice with her left hand. When the attacked boy responds defiantly, “Keep going!”, the aggressor gives him two more slaps—first with her left hand and then with her right.
What was it about? The recording also shows a brunette who witnessed the entire incident, presumably a friend of the girl doing the slapping. The brunette’s words suggest that the boy had insulted the blonde girl. (“And not only her.”) Both girls demand that he apologize, to which the teenager at one point says that he has already done so.
The video ends when the teenage girl announces that she will call her friends. It is not known how the matter ended.
It is known, however, that the recording was made near the bus stop at Łokietka and Zgorzelecka streets. It is also known that the teenage attacker is a student at Zespół Szkół Handlowych i Usługowych on Zgorzelecka Street in Bolesławiec. The school reacted immediately and took action in the matter.
Update: 2024-04-29 17:30
We received a letter and a phone call from the mother of the teenage girl described in the article. The woman expressed deep concern about her daughter’s health, saying that she had experienced a severe panic attack after the material was published.
According to the mother, the situation described in the article has a broader context. The boy, who also appears in the video, allegedly harassed and bullied the girl for several weeks, which affected her behavior. The girl is currently the target of numerous negative messages and comments.
As a news outlet, we are obliged to follow the principles of journalistic ethics, which require us to balance the right to information with the protection of people in difficult life circumstances. Therefore, we are publishing the girl’s mother’s explanation and appealing for emotions to be restrained.
The case will certainly be handled by the court and specialists, while the teenage girl and her family declare their full cooperation.
Physical and psychological violence among teenagers remains a serious social problem, occurring both in schools and outside them. The development of digital technologies has led to an increase in cyberbullying, which significantly affects young people’s mental health.
Teenagers often record incidents of violence on mobile phones and then share the material online or send it to one another. Such actions can further traumatize victims, as their experiences are publicly exposed without their consent, which can deepen their social isolation and sense of shame. It has been observed that publicly sharing such recordings increases victims’ sense of helplessness and hinders their psychological recovery.
Physical violence, including slapping, is punishable in Poland. Depending on the circumstances and type of violence, the perpetrator may be fined or even imprisoned.