一纸停学通知让愤懑的母亲欲哭无泪

 

 “我儿子的学校对他不公！“约克区一所中学7年级学生RL的母亲刘女士说道。刘女士电邮给《大中报》的一封停学通知中指控说，RL的所作所为给该校另一名学生造成身体精神损害，因此校长决定对两名卷入这场斗殴的学生施加处分。刘母气愤地称：“学校的指控毫无根据，孩子是完全是无辜的！”向《大中报》求助的刘女士的邮件中还附上了RL出血的牙齿和牙龈的照片。

“My son was mistreated by the school in this incident!” Ms. Liu, a mother of a Gr7 student (RL) at a York Region school, claimed. A suspension letter from the school alleged that RL’s act caused both physical and mental harm to the other student and said that the principal decides to punish both involved in the physical altercation. “The allegations were baseless, and my son was innocent!” Liu further claimed. She also emailed more graphic images showing that his son’s bloody teeth and gums as she sought help from this paper. 

作为一名两个孩子的母亲，我同情刘女士并理解她的不满之情。的确没有什么事情能让一名母亲眼睁睁地看着自己的孩子被学校冤枉，无辜遭到惩罚更痛心的了。对许多加国华裔来说，他们不正是这个以教育平等著称全球的加国教育系统才让他们决定举家移民加拿大的吗?!

Ms. Liu’s story resonates well with me – a mother of two children and I understand her frustrations very well. Indeed, nothing can hurt a mother more than seeing her child becoming a wrongfully punished innocent victim at school. In the end, many immigrants were drawn to Canada by the equality of the its education system – one of the best in the world. 

但作为一名调查学校停学决定的记者，我所需要了解的信息要远远多于一名自称受害者的母亲提供的单方说辞。学校是否冤枉了在一场斗殴中无辜受伤的学生，错误地下了停学通知？在她的单方指控没有证实的前提下，任何调查都难以进行下去，而揭露事实真相的报道也会因此搁浅。

However, as a reporter who investigates a suspension decision from a school, I need much more information than an unverified claim from the mother of an alleged victim. Did the school falsely suspend a student who was an innocent victim of a school fighting incident? Without witness accounts and statements to back her claims up, the investigation faces challenges, and the story revealing the truth may never emerge.

试想如果有一份对该事件的整个过程的录像公布于社交媒体，刘女士的投诉则可能引起轰动效果并获得公众力挺。近年来，作为强有力的揭露事实真相之工具的社交媒体平台曾多次为被诬陷者洗清罪名，暴露当局指控不实，并将犯罪真凶昭示于大庭广众之下。

However, Liu’s complaints could have gained momentum and gathered public support if the incident had been recorded in a video and posted on social media. Over the years, social media, a truth-telling powerful platform, have repeatedly helped wrongly accused clear their names, proved that the authorities’ allegation was false and exposed real culprits of crime in spotlights. 

2017年三月，美国Wake Forest高中的一名学生因卷入与另一名学生斗殴而遭校方10天停学令。但当事件视频在Instagram曝光，证明其动武是由于另一名学生出口不逊且以武力相威胁所致后，该校学生发起了大规模的抗议活动，而学校则在大众抗议压力下将停学时间从10天降至5天。

In Mar. 2017, a student at Wake Forest HS faced a ten-day suspension for his involvement in an altercation with another student. However, the suspension sparked massive students’ protest after a video on Instagram showed that it was the other student’s derogatory remarks and the threat of violence that had made him lose his temper. The school, facing public pressure, reduced the suspension from 10 days to five.

2014年发生的西蒙•雅庭案也是为社交媒体的这一非凡功效的有利佐证。身心疲惫的18岁的雅庭在公交车上短短的1分37秒内遭到一名警官的8次枪击及另一名警官的泰瑟枪击，而整个事件的录像视频在社交媒体上曝光后引起公众强烈愤慨。在巨大舆论压力下，警官James Forcillo遭受刑事指控并被判处试图谋杀罪成。

Sammy Yatim’s killing in 2014 was another powerful example showing social media’s game-changing abilities in unveiling the truth. The one minute and 37 seconds of video capturing the entire event – where the 18-year-old distressed Yatim on the bus was hit with eight shots from one police officer and then tasered by another – had provoked public outrage after it had posted on the internet. Under the public pressure, the police officer Constable James Forcillo faced criminal charges and a conviction for attempted murder. 

雅庭案录像彻底改变了主流媒体报道各种斗殴及恶性事件的方式。 显然，如果没有市民的录像为佐证，警官Forcillo也不会因雅庭的死而遭判刑，以往受害者因警官因过度使用武器而惨死于警察的枪管之下的案件不在少数。

Yatim’s video has completely changed the media coverage of an altercation or a tragic incident. Apparently, without the citizen’s videos, Facilio was unlikely to be held accountable for Yatim’s death, just like many previous victims killed by officers using excessive power. 

当然，学校停学令从影响程度上来讲与惨死的雅庭不可同日而语，但不可否认的是，社交媒体上的录像视频却在协助调查，揭露真相，昭示大众等方面的起着同等重要的作用。今天，许多主流媒体的揭露事实的调查报道都不在同程度地依赖于高科技和录像视频的鼎力辅佐。不言而喻的是，在雅庭的母亲因Facillio被判罪成而深感宽慰的同时，RL的母亲却只能在静默中暗暗地地擦去她那伤心和愤懑的眼泪。

While the harm of school suspension may pale into insignificance compared with the killing of Yatim, videos posted on social media have played a similarly significant role in assisting investigation and informing the public about the untold truth. Today, many mainstream media stories have relied on technology and video recording to reveal the facts. Apparently, while Yatim’s mother feels relieved that Facillio was convicted of crime, RL’s mother has remained in silence of frustration and sorrow.