Cambridge Bay (Oct 16/06) - Cambridge Bay's hamlet council has asked the RCMP to intervene at a local school.

Council passed a motion on Oct. 16 asking the RCMP to reintroduce an anti-bullying program at Kullik school.

"I received information that children had been involved in bullying. I also had feedback, where the child of a local lawyer was beaten up pretty seriously," said deputy mayor Stephanie Briscoe.

Briscoe made the motion, and all councillors voted in favour.

Millie Kuliktana, the executive director for Kitikmeot school operations said she has been informed that there are growing issues in a number of the region's schools.

"It has been reported to me that bullying and unhappy students are a problem. I'm not sure what it is, the season, a lack of activities," said Kuliktana.

Cathie Rowan, co-principal at Kullik school, said a notice sent to parents by the school addresses an increase in aggression and physical contact between students.

"Northern kids play rough, but we were concerned that this physical aggression was getting too much," she said in an interview.

But she said she's hopeful the worst is behind them.

"This week has been a great week for us at recess," said Rowan.

The biggest problems have been after school hours, but Rowan thought it was important to keep the parents in the loop.

"We have had a couple of incidents off school property, but we are concerned that it could escalate to the school," said Rowan.

Misbehaving youth have been causing many problems in Cambridge Bay.

Last week, they damaged the entrance to the year-old Kitikmeot Health Centre, destroying ceiling tiles and a phone.

On the same night, they made a mess of the Royal Bank's ATM.

The last two major fires in Cambridge Bay have been set by youth. RCMP have identified young offenders as being responsible for the fire that damaged the stone church outside the community earlier this year.

When the community hall was damaged by arson last year, kids playing with matches were identified as the culprits. "We are not any worse than anywhere else, but we do have a problem," said RCMP Sgt. Louis Jenvenne.

Jenvenne wasn't aware of the council's motion, but did say that the force maintains a presence in the schools.

"It is an ongoing thing. We have a school liaison officer in both schools," said Jenvenne. "We deal with 10 per cent of the population 90 per cent of the time. We have all sorts of good kids in this community."

Briscoe agreed that only a handful of youth are causing problems.

Both Briscoe and Kuliktana identified a lack of activities as a problem for the youth. Bored youth cause trouble, and Cambridge Bay is already stretching its recreation dollars to the limit.

Last year the community received $1.44 million in funding from the municipal operating assistance program. That money is split between the hamlet's eight departments.

Council allocated $262,000 to recreation and another $200,000 was raised in the community, making the total budget $462,000.