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RANKIN INLET
Students cheered loudly as Mayor Pujjuut Kusugak proclaimed Rankin Inlet a community striving to be bully-free this past week.

Mayor Pujjuut Kusugak signs an official hamlet proclamation against bullying in the community of Rankin Inlet during a rally at Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik this past week. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Kusugak joined students and staff members at a Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik (MUI) rally against bullying to sign the proclamation.

He said the move is a solid step for the community, especially having the school involved to such a high degree.

"It was great for the hamlet to be invited to be part of this," said Kusugak.

"You could see the problem back when I was in school and, even now, it's such a difficult issue to deal with.

"These initiatives put bullying out in the open, and we have more parents joining the teachers and students in taking a stand against it."

Kusugak said the days of adults saying it's just kids being kids have ended.

He said Rankin minor hockey is also doing a good job in showing that bullying is not acceptable behaviour.

"I help coach the peewee group and we just don't have time for bullying.

"We want to ensure everyone's in a good learning environment and there for fun.

"Hockey, like school, is a place where kids should feel safe and be allowed to make mistakes in order to grow and improve."

MUI principal Jesse Payne said teacher Harold Peach has put a lot of time into the anti-bullying campaign.

He said municipal leaders across the country supported the national proclamation initiative, and MUI was proud to have the Hamlet of Rankin Inlet publicly condemn the act.

"The mayor told the kids this problem also exists in the adult world," said Payne.

"It was great to have that kind of recognition for the students, so they could see this is not only a problem within the school community.

"Bullying impacts our whole community."

Payne said the anti-bullying campaign at MUI has had a positive impact.

He said it's encouraging to see how many students have bought into the campaign.

"We have students who are identifying bullying now and bringing it to the attention of adults, and that's a big difference at MUI.

"It works nicely with our restitution to have students fix their own problems.

"If a student has been bullied, we bring them and the bully together and do a restitution piece where the other person has to come up with a plan to fix the problem."

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