Parents speak out against bullying
'Occasional incidents' a reality, says Fort Smith elementary school principal
Meagan Leonard
Northern News Services
Monday, November 9, 2015
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Karen Eric moved to Fort Smith from Behchoko with her four children this fall to attend school at Aurora College. She said for two of her children, the bullying started the second week of school - during and after regular hours.
Her youngest son has experienced verbal and physical harassment while attending Grade 2 at Joseph Burr Tyrell Elementary and playing on the playground in the evening. Eric said she became suspicious when he started complaining he was ill every morning.
"He kept coming up with excuses, 'I don't feel good, my stomach hurts,' and it got to the point where he started crying that he didn't want to go to school," she said.
She said she was getting the same feedback from her daughter attending Paul William Kaeser High School and later found out some students had been calling her names and shoving her into lockers.
Eric said she brought her concerns to school staff, but when she saw what was happening first hand she decided to speak to the bullies herself.
"One day I decided to go for a walk to see how (my son) was doing because he said other kids were bugging him," she said.
When she got to the playground, Eric said she saw a group of other boys shove him to the ground, kick and spit on him.
"I caught one of the boys, who is the same age as my son and talked to him about bullying."
Bullying in Fort Smith was brought to the forefront last week when concerned parent Dwade Hawley wrote on Facebook about his son's experience at Joseph Burr Tyrell, prompting others in the community to respond with similar complaints. Although Eric says her son and Hawley's do not know each other, the issue hit home.
"I was kind of upset because I know this is ongoing, especially if you're new here," she said.
Eric said after she spoke to the bully herself, the problems seemed to stop with her youngest son, but her daughter had to go back to Behchoko and live with her grandparents.
"She couldn't handle it, didn't ever want to go to school," Eric explained.
"Good thing I have my parents to take (her) in. She's happy now that she's with her peers she grew up with."
She said she would like to see schools working more closely with children through anti-bullying programs instead of teachers just "watching more closely" at recess. Even still, she says it is not enough when violence is happening outside of school hours.
Joseph Burr Tyrell Elementary principal Vic Manson told News/North in an e-mail there are a number of programs in place at the school to address bullying, but eliminating conflict completely is unrealistic.
"Certainly there are occasional incidents of misbehaviour and even bullying," he said. "But as a staff and school community we have policies and procedures in place to guide our response and actions. We always look for ways to turn a negative experience into a positive learning experience for all involved."
Assistant deputy minister for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment Rita Mueller said the government has ramped up its anti-bullying efforts over the last few years, even going as far as adding provisions to the territorial Education Act in 2013. However, she said success is dependent on everyone in a community working together.
"The greatest challenge with bullying is it's not something that just happens in the school, during the school day," she said.
"Bullying is a social problem everywhere at all hours."
Left unaddressed, she said the consequences for victims are far reaching.
"We have a lot of work to do ... in addressing the damaging effects bullying has on young people," she said.
"Those damaging effects (are) kids not having the skills to have healthy relationships as a result of violence ... it affects their overall well-being."
Mueller says she encourages parents to take a proactive role in addressing issues children may be having - school staff often don't see everything.
"Parents have a role and responsibility to make sure they're aware of what's happening in their children's lives," she said.
"The first avenue of course is to talk to their child's teacher to see if they're aware, make them aware and then work together wherever they can to really address what's happening to the child."
RCMP spokesperson Elenore Sturko says while children under the age of 11 cannot be charged under the Youth Criminal Justice act, police are involved in bullying prevention initiatives in the schools.
"We do have some programming and we also tailor our talks to meet the needs of schools," she stated in an e-mail. "I have given some presentations here in (Yellowknife) and I also meet one-on-one with a couple of 'bullies' to help them. This type of thing is done in consultation with the school."
She added parents or children are welcome to speak to the police if they are having issues with bullying.
