BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO
A grieving mother is calling for an end to bullying in Behchoko after her 14-year-old son took his life in Edmonton on Nov. 1.

Christian Migwi, 14, took his own life in Edmonton on Nov. 1. Christian's mother says he was bullied by former classmates from his hometown of Behchoko in the months before he died. - photo courtesy of Jennifer Migwi

Jennifer Migwi said her son, Christian Migwi, committed suicide after being repeatedly bullied on Facebook by former classmates from Chief Jimmy Bruneau School in Behchoko.

"In Rae this is common, the kids are always teasing and bullying," she said. "The bullying has to stop."

The Migwis moved to Edmonton three years ago so that Jennifer could pursue a degree in business management. It wasn't until six months ago that she noticed people were posting hurtful messages on Christian's Facebook profile.

"He said he was being teased because he was living here and (people thought) that he was living the high life, calling him ugly and saying that his pictures were just fake - like really putting him down," she said.

Migwi said she sat down to talk to him about the bullying and encouraged him to delete the posts and block the people who were targeting him from his profile. Despite taking her advice, the bullies still found ways to bully him online.

A couple of weeks before his death, Christian went to a counselling session at his school in Edmonton, said. Migwi. However, the messages didn't stop and Christian's depression worsened, she said.

"My two (other) sons won't get to know who he was or who he could have been when he grew up," said Migwi, referring to Christian's brothers, six-year-old Hunter and four-year-old DJ. "Hunter still cries at night for him."

The GNWT passed anti-bullying legislation in November 2013. The new law gives schools the power to suspend students for a maximum period of 20 days if they are found to be bullying other students. The legislation also made it so that every school in the territory had to adopt a "safe schools plan," which includes measures to address instances of bullying.

Beginning this year, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment began offering courses which teaches the ethics and responsibility surrounding the use of technology to students from kindergarten to Grade 12 in schools across the territory.

Kevin Armstrong, CEO of the Tlicho Community Services Agency, was unable to comment about the new curriculum by press time.

Patricia Turner, principal of Chief Jimmy Bruneau School, was at a training session at the end of last week and could not be reached for comment.

Despite the efforts of the GNWT, Migwi said bullying is still rampant in schools. She said her 12-year-old cousin, who goes to school in Behchoko, has been getting bullied to the point where he is afraid to go to class. Just a couple of weeks ago he was beat up so badly by bullies that he had to go to the health centre, she said.

"Even after what happened to Christian he's still getting pushed around, he's still being bullied, he's still being teased," he said. "He's literally crying and he doesn't want to go to school."

Migwi also called on parents to step in and talk to their children about the effects.

Migwi, who is holding off on returning to Edmonton for the foreseeable future, said she is planning to put together a presentation for the schools in Behchoko to teach students about the impacts of bullying with the help of her aunt.

"We're going to prepare a presentation and when we're ready we're going to go to the school and explain everything and tell everyone what we're going through," she said.

A memorial service was held for Christian in Behchoko on Nov. 10. Migwi said so many people showed up to the church to pay their respects that they had to stand outside during the service. She said Christian loved to skateboard, play video games, and spend time with his six-month old puppy Milo, who would help cheer him up when he was feeling down. Christian was also very bright and had an interest in technology and electronics, she said.

"Sometimes he helped us when we had problems with electronics," she said. "If he had grown up that's probably what he would have done: computers."

Migwi said the thing that she will miss the most is the way he raised his eyebrow when he smiled.

"My son was young," she said. "He still had his life ahead of him."

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