KIVALLIQ - A Kivalliq teacher who was assaulted in his classroom this past month will be boarding a plane to head south for plastic surgery consultations this week.

The black eye will heal, and the surgeon's skill will address the rest of the facial deformity, but, in the Kivalliq, the teacher must deal with the emotional scars on his own.

The Kivalliq teacher was punched a total of four times in an attack he never saw coming. Other students were in the room when the incident occurred.

The accused, a teenaged male, was expelled by the local district education authority (DEA) and has been charged with assault.

The student will make his first court appearance in June.

The teacher (it is Northern News Services policy to withhold the names of victims of violent crimes unless they request otherwise) said one of the worst parts of the assault has been being victimized time and time again since it happened.

He said it's been difficult dealing with the insinuations that he must have done or said something to anger the student.

"It brought feelings to the surface that there's just no respect for anybody out there anymore, and many people feel they don't have to be accountable for their own actions," said the teacher.

"You get put in a situation where it's almost like you're being blamed for being a victim. You're made to feel like somehow it's your fault the person lost control, and it's your fault it happened to you.

"There's really very little empathy for what you've gone through or what you're dealing with."

The teacher said the community may silently feel like the incident should never have happened, but not many are saying that out loud.

He said most people seem to want to simply ignore it until the next bad thing happens and the attention shifts elsewhere.

"I received a great deal of support from my principal, but there was no offer of counselling, or anything else for that matter, from the Nunavut government.

"The way I understand it, the Education Act here is very vague in dealing with assaults and, really, leaves it up to the local DEA to sort out.

"This has been very hard for me to talk about because I don't want to sound like I'm mad at the whole community. This is my home, and I would never judge the whole community on one person's actions."

A spokesperson from the Department of Education could not be reached for comment by press deadline.

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