Time for change
Parents want change in school policies on bullying
News of two Sherwood Park Middle School students who died from suicide within six months of each other is raising concern among parents and they want changes in school policies.
Facebook is raging with stories from families about bullying affecting them.
Some say their children are afraid to go to MacDonald school. Some are planning on moving.
The concern inspired Amanda MacDonald to start a petition on Change.org asking the school board to change or enforce the policies on bullying.
“If something doesn’t change … that could be my child one day,” she says referring to the students who died. “No one should have to go through that.”
Calls to multiple school board employees and board members throughout the day were not returned at time of publication.
MacDonald’s nine-year old daughter goes to Harbourside Elementary. She says she’s been bullied so severely she now suffers from panic attacks and goes to counselling
“I went down to the school with four other parents about one kid who was bullying about 10 other kids,” she explains.
“And instead of sending that child home or disciplining her, my daughter was kept inside at recess while the bully got to go outside and play.”
Greg and Nancy are equally frustrated with their elementary school in Glace Bay. The couple’s names have been changed because they want to protect their child’s identity.
“We’re fed up with the system and it’s ineffectiveness,” says Greg.
Their son has ADHD and started being bullied two years ago in Grade Primary. The bullies called him names, pushed him, and punched him.
“He’s going to school at five years old and getting punched in the stomach,” Nancy says. “We called the school and they did nothing. Then when he hit back, he got called to the office.”
Greg and Nancy spoke to the school and called the school board.
The bullying continued in Grade 1 so the couple moved him to Bridgeport Elementary.
“He was doing great,” says Greg. “Then it closed.”
His wife adds: “His birthday party that year was so beautiful. He had so many friends. He had kids in Grade 4 that he invited.”
There was no bullying. Their son was coming home with stories about his friends, something that didn’t happen at the other school.
“The class size (at Bridgeport) was 14,” explains Greg. “Those children had an eye on them all the time. They had no reason to cry out for attention.
“At the other school, it is 28 kids to one teacher. Everyone’s screaming for attention and no one’s listening.”
When Bridgeport closed, Greg and Nancy had to put their son back in the first school. The bullying resumed.
Nancy starts crying when asked how it feels to send her son to that school.
“I feel like a bad mother because I feel like I am sending him out to the wolves. I know what he is walking into and I can’t protect him there.”
Both parents fear if they don’t get their son to a school where he isn’t bullied, he will resort to taking his own life when he is older. This is something his grandparents and other family members also fear.
“I am at a point I am ready to go and beat some parents,” Greg says, his voice cracking slightly. “I am ready to do time in jail … than have to go to his funeral in a few years.”
Because of the bullying, Greg and Nancy plan to sell their house and move to another area. Their extended families think they should.
Single dad, Duane Marchand, moved to Edson, Alberta, because of the way his daughter was bullied and the lack of help from the school.
“My daughter was in Grade 6 and three boys surrounded her and said they were going to rape her,” he angrily says. “That was at Cusack Elementary, about three years ago.”
He reported the incident and says the school sent letters home to the parents of the boys involved but didn’t reprimand them. One parent called to apologize.
Chantell Pasher is another parent who feels the schools themselves aren’t doing enough.
Her daughter goes to Glace Bay Elementary School and was bullied last year in Grade Primary. Daily her daughter would tell here how the bully called her names like dirt bag, pulled her hair or hid her book bag.
“I went to talk to her guidance counselor and she told me it can’t be called bullying at that age,” she explains.
“He was tormenting her day in and day out. I guess my daughter finally hit the boy back, defending herself, and she got sent home.
She continues: “I think it’s nuts that the schools are punishing the ones who are defending themselves and not the ones who are doing the bullying.”
Greg and Nancy agree. “I’m not saying bring back the strap, but to actually have consequences, it’s going to curb the bullying,” Greg says.
MacDonald hopes the petition gets the school board’s attention.
“It’s terrifying,” she says. “That’s why I think these policies need to change and people need to be accountable for what they are doing.”