As students face back to school day Aug. 31, school district officials, parents and Parent Advisory Committee members are increasing discussions over bullying in the Sea to Sky School District.
On Monday Aug. 10, a small group gathered with frustrations over what they say is an intolerable level of bullying in the Sea to Sky School District. The group of about a dozen included parents, teacher's assistant, former principal, former school trustee, friends and family of teachers and those exposed to bullying.
Most pressing among participants was the violence many feel district officials are not adequately addressing.
"The issue of violence is what is dealt with first, and it is the lack of preparation to stop bullying from manifesting into violence that must be addressed," said one group member who declined to be named for this article.
Some individuals said they've been consistently dissatisfied with response from the district.
"Bullying is everywhere," said Annette, the mother of a local bullied child. "My son has been through enough, and I am tired of going year after year to the school board."
A retired school board trustee said the district should change their approach to bullying.
"The culture that is at play in the senior administration levels in the school district is one of being nice, and they do no take enough action."
The event's organizer Bianca Peters, recently created the Facebook group "Bully Free Howe Sound" to address problems involving her own son, and she saw its membership quickly rise to 250.
"There is a need for parental support in this community," said Peters. "People are watching the issue closely because this is not an issue that just affects Howe Sound Secondary."
In an email to group members, DPAC chair Cathy Jewett said the topic hits a personal note for her.
"As a child I was bullied," she writes. "It is funny (in a strange way) that we still see that the victim gets blamed for the abuse. That is what I always heard - I deserved it.Nobody deserves to be hit or punched or verbally intimidated or excluded."
Jewett suggested parents contact DPAC with any concerns and consult a handbook from the British Columbia Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils entitled Speaking Up! A Parent Guide to advocating for students in public schools. The BCCPAC also has a hotline to call: 1 888 351-9834.
District to implement steps
Current school officials were asked not to attend the inaugural gathering. However a meeting was held with Peters, former school board trustee Peter Gordon, board vice chair Rick Price, superintendent of schools Rick Erickson, and district director of instruction Rose Mackenzie on Monday (Aug. 17). Peters said she came away cautiously optimistic that the officials heard her concerns and seem willing to work on addressing them.
Some of the commitments made at the meeting included contacting individuals on the Facebook page to update members on steps being taken. There will also be an anonymous email link on the school district website for those wishing to disclose bullying issues. A committee of various stakeholders will be formed to monitor the issue with "meaningful measuring."
And Peter Gordon of Communities that Care said he'd like to see the organization's Strengthening Families program utilized in schools.
Facebook comments surprising
Mackenzie, who takes over as Howe Sound Secondary School principal in September, said this week's meeting went well, and is a positive step in addressing concerns.
Last week, MacKenzie told The Chief the number of complaints on the Facebook site surprised her.
"In my three years of being director of instruction at the board office, I haven't had a lot of phone calls from parents saying that 'My child's concerns have been ignored or dismissed,'" said MacKenzie.
"It tells me that it's not brought to my attention. Now, with the Facebook, there have been concerns, so of course we're going to talk about it. And we're putting a plan together to allow people to be able to contact us and report."
The district is now engaging the help of educational psychology expert Dr. Shelley Hymel, UBC Faculty of Education professor.
Various school district programs as well as a component of the D.A.R.E. program discuss bullying with students in each school curriculum, but the group would like to see more preventative programs.
Members would also like to see alternative programs for problem children and more involvement from RCMP school liaison officers and the Ministry of Children and Family Development when necessary.
"We are not going away and we will keep up the pressure until people are held accountable," said Peters.
