GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR, N.L. — More than 600 people have signed a petition started by parents of bullied children in the NL school system.
Sherri Penton and Amanda Antle, who are both living in Grand Falls-Windsor, are calling for changes in the way bullying is handled by provincial schools.
Antle and Penton want a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy, mandatory anger management counselling for children associated with bullying behaviour and scheduled sessions between parents of both the bully and victim and the children as well.
Both women said they have had children bullied in the school system and weren’t happy with how it was handled.
“Even if a kid gets suspended for it, they just come back in a few days and it happens again,” Antle said. “So they can do whatever they want and get away with it.”
They are part of a Facebook group called ‘Are Our Children Safe in NL Schools’ and discovered from there it's a province-wide issue.
“We’ve heard from people in Corner Brook, St. John’s, Gander, Lewisporte, all over,” Penton said. “It’s a school board issue, not just in one place.”
According to the NLESD guidelines on suspension and expulsion, a school administrator can suspend a student for a maximum of five days, up to 30 days total in a school year.
Penton said schools and teachers require tools to enforce rules more effectively — with real consequences.
The growth of technology, especially cellphones and social media, has added a whole new level to the situation, Penton said.
“There can be five or 10 kids filming these things now, some kid getting beaten up and they’ll put it online,” she said. “It’s not like it used to be.”
Don Coombs, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of School Councils, told SaltWire Network his organization hears from parents and schools that bullying is a growing issue.
He agreed anger management and counselling would be good steps to take, perhaps in conjunction with suspensions, but said overall it’s a large issue that needs many voices working together.
“It’s something that schools, the school board, other stakeholders involved, maybe the child youth advocate, the department of justice, need to work to find a solution,” he said. “We’ve got to find something to stop the bullying, to address it.”
He said it isn’t something the school board can fix and the current policies in place aren’t working in every case.
SaltWire Network contacted the Department of Education requesting an interview about bullying and the changes suggested in the petition. The department said the provincial government’s Safe and Caring Schools Policy, which covers bullying, is being reviewed to determine where changes are necessary and how it can be strengthened.
“Possible changes to legislation to ensure it is up to date on matters related to violence is part of the ongoing review of the Schools Act,” the emailed statement read.
The department said when bullying occurs, it requires schools to use the bullying intervention protocol in the policy, which requires major behavioural incidents reported to NLESD to be added to a provincial database. They said data is used to analyze behavioural patterns and the effectiveness of preventative and intervention strategies.
The petition can be found here.
