Local mom encouraged by safe school task force recommendations
A Whistler mom who has been fighting along with other parents to stamp out bullying in B.C. schools finally got some good news.
The Ministry of Education plans by this fall to develop new polices for fighting the devastating behaviour.
Its polices will be based on several recommendations handed down last week in a much anticipated government task force report – Facing our Fears, Accepting Responsibility.
"There are some really good steps to be taken outlined in the report and it is really nice to know that the task force was listening to us," said Leanne Dufour.
Dufour’s daughter was attacked and beaten in a local park in 1998 by fellow students at Whistler Secondary because of a false accusation that she had been with the boyfriend of one of the girls.
However, even when the false accusation came to light the youths continued to bully and harass her daughter, to the point where she left the school.
Two girls were convicted of assault and ordered to stay away from Dufour’s daughter.
Dufour sued the school board over its handling of the incident but was later forced to drop the lawsuit.
Her experiences drove her to join with other parents of bullied and harassed children to fight for province-wide recognition of the problem and new policies to deal with it.
She made presentations to the task force and its members several times.
Dufour is most encouraged by the task force recommendation that all school boards be required to publicly report the nature and volume of incidents of violence in district schools, together with evidence of what they did about it.
"I think requiring documentation is huge and I think that is a really big step in holding the schools accountable for what is going on in the schools," she said.
"When you read the report you can see that the attitudes of the school and the attitudes of the students is really different towards incidents of bullying and with this enforced documentation the schools will have to keep track of the incidents and what is done about them."
Another important issue dealt with in the report is parent education.
It states that parents must be educated about how to deal with the policies and procedures surrounding bullying so that resolutions can be found for all the stakeholders.
"This is crucial too," said Dufour, adding that putting the polices in place in every district will make a huge difference to the handling of the problem, from the parents involvement to the school district’s role.
"If every district is doing a different thing and you are not on the same program then nothing is going to change, so making sure everything is across the province is a huge step too."
But there are gaps in the report as well, said Dufour.
"They haven’t offered any kind of suggestions for consequences or accountability for the kids that I can see," she said.
"That is a huge part of the problem and I think the government really has to look at what they can do to make these kids see that there are consequences for their behaviour."
The report does mention the use of suspension but it also states that this consequence can backfire as many of the bullies do not want to be in school.
Dufour believes removing a bully from the school can be positive as it can take the youth away from a peer group, thereby removing some of the child’s power-base.
At Whistler Secondary principal Ken Davies said safety is the key concern when considering the removal of a student.
"What is of most importance is safety for all," he said.
The high school does have a system of reporting already in place but, said Davies, province-wide guidelines and policies are a good idea.
"A lot of what has been recommended is being done currently by schools," he said.
"But I think what is good about the report is trying to develop some consistency and continuity throughout the province around the whole issue."
Myrtle Philip has spent the last year working on a code of conduct which looks at teaching values and social responsibility as a key to nipping bullying in the bud.
The B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils welcomed the report.
"Student safety is paramount for parents," said President Terri Watson,
"We hope that this report will result in schools, communities and the Ministry of Education taking responsibility and action in order to make schools safer for children."
The report recommendations include:
• School boards in consultation with school planning councils should review and amend existing school district policies or develop new ones to better address bullying;
• Acceptable behaviour by staff and students should be clearly outlined;
• There must be policies in place to protect anyone who reports potentially dangerous behaviour from retribution;
• The Ministry of Education should assist schools and school boards to make sure their policies are consistent with the B.C. Human Rights Code and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
• The B.C. CPAC Call it Safe book, which outlines steps parents and students should follow if they are bullied, should be given to everyone at the beginning of the school year. It should also be given to anyone who comes forward to report an incident;
• All school boards, in consultation with school planning councils, should be required to develop procedures for reporting and investigating incidents of bullying. Those procedures should be made clear to parents and students;
• School boards should be required to publicly report the nature and volume of incidents of violence in district schools along with a report on what they did about the incident;
• School boards should get together and share information about programs that work;
• The government should promote safety zones around schools to help shield students from criminal activities;
• School planning councils should discuss with the community the idea of introducing a dress code at schools.
