N.S. premier calls for help to fight cyber bullying
Seeks to enlist parents after spate of suicides
• Nova Scotia’s premier says the response to a spate of Cape Breton teen suicides should extend beyond the classroom as technology broadens the reach of bullying.
Stephen McNeil says parents should educate themselves about how technology can put young people at risk in the wake of the suicides of three teens, at least two of whom had been bullied.
“Oftentimes, our experience with these devices is very different than our children’s and the world that they’re living in,” McNeil said. “We need to educate ourselves on how do we deal with that in a way that is not putting our kids at risk.”
The Nova Scotia government has accepted all of the recommendations outlined by a Dalhousie University mental-health expert who was dispatched to Cape Breton in June following the suicides. Dr. Stan Kutcher recommended a provincial policy be developed to address students’ responsible use of personal devices such as cellphones on school grounds. But he said a wider public discussion needs to take place on where responsibilities lie outside of school.
McNeil cited Kutcher’s findings while addressing reporters after a cabinet meeting Thursday. He said social media has allowed the impacts of bullying to continue outside school, and he encouraged parents to help deal with the problem at home.
“When I was young ... we could get away from it,” said McNeil. “Kids today can’t. They take it home through social media and all the aspects associated with that.”
He said there is no single cause that can explain the challenges some communities are facing, but said socioeconomic factors may play a role. Provincial officials have pledged to spend $192,000 boosting mentalhealth supports at the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board. The money would be used to hire two guidance counsellors and a social worker at the board.
Justin Newell, a 13-yearold transgender boy from Cape Breton, took his own life June 3 after being bullied through social media.
Chris Royal spoke out in June following the death of his daughter, Madison Wilson, 13, who took her own life after what her parents said was verbal abuse at school and on social media.