One for the Road: Age isn’t just a number

The already infamous Omagh bus depot incident that recently hit headlines has invoked the wrath of the local public with a seldom-seen ferocity, but should we be so quick to fan these flames of outrage when the ‘villains’ involved are still in school uniforms?

Before I begin I better state that this column is not about what actually happened on that much-discussed day at the depot. There will be no attempt to establish the events that led up to the incident, nor will there be any chat about the particular teenagers involved.

Secondly, like 99 percent of you, by dint of my belonging to the adult world, I am not privy to anything resembling an accurate account of what occurred. And thirdly, the exact ins-and-outs of what happened, though of crucial importance to the people involved in the incident and the police who are investigating it, are not, in reality, the most interesting part of this whole story. That honour, I am afraid, goes to the adults that all too readily rushed to publicly condemn youngsters, as though the targets of their ignominious scorn were not, less than a few years ago, running about the primary school playground, skipping rope and jumping hopscotch.

I think we all ought to acknowledge the power of public shaming. As social animals we are extremely sensitive to the opinions of others. To be shunned, ostracised, excommunicated, or harshly criticised by a significant number of people has been scientifically shown to be an extremely painful and mentally traumatising experience. Indeed, every year, there is no shortage of suicides that are attributed to the anguish associated with ‘online pile-ons’; a modern form of public shaming, wherein lots of people use social media to criticise, assail or abuse someone within a short timespan.

Now, I am not saying that the expression of public anger that has been witnessed in response to the bus depot incident is tantamount to an online pile-on, but it certainly has had many of the same potentially-harmful qualities. Another thing worth reiterating is that few of us really understand what happened. We are ignorant to everything beyond the borders of the video. Perhaps people are correct and everything was as black-and-white as the most scathing voices have assumed. But perhaps there was more to the situation than meets the eye. If so, how many people, upon finding out all the facts, would feel a hot flush of mortifying culpability for so hurriedly having taken to social media, with all the certainty of a high court judge, to declaim a young girl a ‘disgusting person’ or ‘bad egg’?

And finally, a question I have been asking myself is this: When does a misguided, bold child become a self-possessed and morally accountable adult? When exactly do these cute, hairless, emotionally-volatile and incurably innocent creatures lose their natural immunity and evolve into something that we treat as more than a mere product of all their influences? If an infant rocked into nursery and uttered an unspeakably racist remark, would we blame the child and write them off as a morally unsalvageable bigot? Would we take to Facebook and post a picture of the little fascist, all in act of public responsibility? Maybe some lunatics would, but the rest of us, those who consider themselves sane, would show compassion, care and understanding, knowing, as we do, that nobody is born a bigot and that such prejudices have to be learned.

I am not surprised that people reacted strongly to the video and the rumours surrounding it: Two teenage girls, one perpetrator, one helpless victim, plus a sea of not-so-innocent bystanders, who, more concerned with catching the catastrophe on camera than intervening to bring it to stop, represent some unique moral flaw of today’s generation. Add to all that a repugnant racist motive, as per the police’s hate crime investigation, and it is not hard to see how adjectives such as ‘appalling’, ‘disgusting’ and ‘unforgivable’ become the words of the week in many comment threads concerning the incident.

However, there are parts of this story that we do not yet know and others that we will never know, some of which, if they could be understood, might give us reason to pause before shouting out our opinions and judgements. But one thing is for certain: Everyone in the video was wearing their school uniform.

Please do not mistake this as an apologetic written for the benefit of anybody involved. Neither should it be understood as an article intended to diminish the anguish, humiliation or physical pain anyone suffered during the incident. Rather it is a reminder to the adults that, as much as it might bring you comfort to pretend that age is just a number, it isn’t; age matters, and we would all do well to remember that before we broadcast our opinions.