Doctor doubts claims of zero tolerance on bullying
When family physician Dr. Carol Geddes learned an inquest was being held to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of 13-year-old Kaleab Schmidt, she personally hand-delivered her file on the teen for use by the Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service.
The reason, she told the inquest on Wednesday, was because she wants to see something productive done to confront the continuing problem of bullying in schools.
“I don’t ever want to see any child or really any adult commit suicide because of bullying ...,” Geddes said through tears. “Bullying with racial slurs, it shouldn’t happen.”
She said while there’s plenty of talk about zero tolerance, it often doesn’t translate into action.
“I don’t really see any teeth in it at all,” she said.
The coroner’s jury previously heard Kaleab — adopted by the Schmidt family from Ethiopia as a child — was subject to bullying and racism at Greenall High School in the time leading to his April 30, 2018, suicide.
Geddes said Kaleab lived a hard life in Ethiopia and believed fighting was necessary to confront his problems with bullying at the predominantly white school.
She said she came up with a detailed plan with him intended to prevent self-harm in 2017 when he attempted suicide by overdosing on pills. She said Kaleab refused medication for mental health issues, and told the doctor several months after the attempt that he wasn’t having suicidal thoughts.
Geddes’ other conclusion at the time was that Kaleab was being bullied at school.
Geddes told jurors she is treating several children for anxiety and depression, and that suicidal thoughts among children is not uncommon.
While psychiatrist Dr. Samiul Haque — who came on board after Kaleab’s overdose — didn’t diagnose depression, he did find issues of anxiety. And although he acknowledged Kaleab expressed having suicidal thoughts, he testified he didn’t then believe the teen intended to follow through.
In terms of what he thinks could help teens who have suicidal thoughts, he said there aren’t enough mental health professionals available to cope with the problem.
Meanwhile, psychologist Dr. Allisson Quine, who worked periodically with Kaleab between 2014 and 2018, said in retrospect she wishes there had been a more “cohesive treatment” involving the various professionals involved, rather than a situation in which his mom had to act as go-between.
The inquest also heard that while certain training and education wasn’t readily available to adoptive families at the time of Kaleab’s adoption, it now is.
Outside of the inquest, two of Kaleab’s friends who share his Ethiopian background said bullying and racism in Saskatchewan schools is very real. Both have experienced it themselves in Regina schools, and were among those who put together a video in the wake of Kaleab’s death, seeking change.
Bemnet Yirdaw, who first got to know Kaleab in Ethiopia, said his friend talked to him sometimes about the struggles he endured.
“He would tell me he was getting bullied at school,” he said.
“I’d try to tell him, ‘Keep your head up,’ because I face the same stuff in my daily life. And I would just try to motivate him, there’s always going to be a better outcome out of this.”
Belan Tsegaye said not nearly enough is done in schools to address the issue of racism and bullying — one of the chief reasons she’s grateful an inquest is being held.
“It’s a topic that’s brushed under the rug ...,” she said. “I deal with racism each and every day, and I feel like schools don’t teach about it ... (Kaleab) needed help and so many people failed him.”
For anyone having thoughts of suicide, help is available 24/7 at Crisis Services Canada — Suicide Prevention and Support, 1-833456-4566.