Dez Loreen
Northern News Services

Fort Good Hope (Sep 12/05) - Repeated acts of vandalism at Chief T'Selehye school are "a cry for help," said an RCMP officer in Fort Good Hope.

Vandals have hit the school a dozen times in the last year, and their attacks go beyond mischief, Const. Donna Rorison said after the latest incident.

"These kids are acting out, and they're trying to tell us something we should be listening to. We need to give them the attention they need," she said. "Kids have broken into places, and only taken food to eat, or have been caught sleeping, looking for shelter. I see it as a cry for help."

Chief T'Selehye school principal Phillip Cull said the most recent attack on the building came just before school started and damage was greater than ever, he said.

Vandals broke window panes, smashed computer monitors and a large television and discharged all the school's fire extinguishers.

"Normally, they only come in, and a bit of mischief is conducted. This time, there was serious damage done," said Cull.

"That stuff costs us a lot of money."

School is scheduled to continue as planned, with new equipment.

"After the cleanup, we only missed two full days of school." said Cull.

Sahtu regional superintendent Seamus Quigg is concerned about the situation.

"We have problems like this in all the communities in the region, but none as bad as in Fort Good Hope," he said.

"It's out of control. The Chief and Council have been concerned as well, and have been working to fix this ongoing problem." explained Quigg.

Fort Good Hope Chief Ron Pierrot didn't want to discuss the issue with News/North, saying problems in the community have to be addressed only by local people.

"Negative things in the community should stay within the community," Pierrot said. "A public meeting was held and we're dealing with it in our own way. I don't want to talk about it."

Collective solution

RCMP are taking a different approach to the situation.

"We're alarmed about it, and we are working with the school and the education board to find a collective solution," said Rorison.

"It's nothing that the police can do by themselves. The school and the rest of the community have to come together if we want things to change."