INUVIK - Last year in a Beaufort Delta community, a student was given 30 hours community service by RCMP for adding urine to a teacher's coffee.

This type of situation is rare, but reminds people that teachers can be abused.

Dennis Parsons is the Superintendent of the Beaufort Delta Education Council. He sat down with News/North to discuss teacher abuse in the Beaufort Delta, and what recourses are available for educators who've been yelled at, teased or assaulted in the classroom. - Philippe Morin/NNSL photo

On April 19, News/North sat down with Dennis Parsons, superintendent of the Beaufort Delta Education Council, to discuss the recourses available to teachers, and when police intervention is necessary.

We present the interview word-for-word as part of a new feature.

News/North: Being a teacher can be a stressful job, in which instructors can be disrespected, teased or yelled at. In some cases, there could be physical assault. How do you feel about the phrase "teacher abuse"?

DENNIS PARSONS: Whether it's a teacher or whether it's any person in the community, I don't feel good about the phrase. We at the Beaufort Delta Education Council do everything we possibly can to eliminate abuse, where and when we find it.

In terms of the teaching profession: Absolutely, it can be stressful. At the same time, it can be very rewarding.

Are people disrespected? Teachers, principals, people working in the system? There are occasions, but I think by and large, our experience across the Beaufort Delta has been a good one.

Most students are very respectful of teachers, but we do have our incidents. And I think when they occur, we deal with them as best we can.

N/N: What recourses are available for teachers in such a case?

D.P: I think there are a number of recourses. Obviously, in the school system itself, a teacher would go to his or her principal. That would be the first recourse.

We also bring whatever resources we can to assist the principal in walking through those types of situations.

If it can't be dealt with at the school level, they can come back to the board level, so we have some resources here, including myself.

At the same time there are community resources like Social Services and the RCMP.

All of those resources may be accessed depending on the type of situation we're involved in.

You can also go outside the community. There's the teacher's union and there are other territorial organizations and groups that could help us respond to a situation.

Just recently here (in Inuvik) we partnered with the RCMP in doing threat assessment service, and we had a lot of our people sent through that.

That proved to be a good experience, I think, and it opened a few other doorways that people might use.

N/N: Are these measures often utilized within the Beaufort Delta?

D.P: I would think that all of these measures would be often utilized, but it depends on the situation. If the situation doesn't warrant all these measures, then we'd only use what needs to be used.

We try to deal with that at the school level, then it's an outward spiral from there.

I would think if the situation warranted it, we would walk through all of those steps.

To date, I think we've been fairly fortunate in that most situations if not all can be dealt with using the resources that we have.

N/N: How do you feel the system could be improved?

D.P: I guess no matter how good the current system might be, there's always room for improvement.

We are a geography in the Beaufort Delta that's very dispersed.

Communication is always key, and communications today are much better than they were, say, 10 years ago and they will continue to improve.

So, working on communication, making people part of the organization, getting parents more involved in education so there's a good back-and-forth, all of those things would help deal with situations as they arise.

Apart from that, it's about resources: Having resource personnel to intervene when it's necessary.

Probably in situations where abuse might be involved, in one form or another, communication - talking, sharing - is probably the most important step.

N/N: What should parents and students take away from this conversation?

D.P: I hope people realize that the system is there for them.

I'd like to think and I hope people in the communities feel it's a responsive system, and that if a situation of abuse should occur, we will be there to help deal with it.

We don't shy away from abuse, certainly, we don't sweep it under the carpet. We try to deal with it, in terms of utilizing recourses that are warranted, in a sensitive manner, in a professional manner.

We try to seek the support and the help - whether it's medical, professional, educational - that an individual might need, and at the same time we try to support our staff.

It's very important that students and also staff in our employ feel support.

I also think it's important parents feel the system is responsive to their children.

In terms of this interview, hopefully people will see the system is there for them, responsive to them, and if a situation happens we'll do our best to respond to it in a sensitive and responsible manner.