Feature Article March 20, 2002
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Three boys convicted of assault at Prince Charles in Veronaby David BrisonThe reports out of the Kingston Young Offenders Court on school bullying at Prince Charles Public School are profoundly upsetting (School bullies convicted of assault by Arthur Milnes, The Kingston Whig-Standard, March 3, 2002).
Three boys from Prince Charles were convicted of assault for bullying a fellow student over the course of the 1999-2000 school year. The victim, who was smaller than his assailants, was kicked, made to eat dirt, had his face drawn on, his lunch stolen repeatedly, was bitten, sat on, and at least twice hung up on a coat hanger inside his classroom. In short, his life was made miserable, and he kept it from his parents for most of the year -- until his mother discovered scars from the bite marks and the story came out.
The thought of anyone having to endure this kind of torment, and being intimidated into not reporting it, is sickening enough. However, the incidents become even more disturbing when we learn that a good many of the other children in his class and in the school knew about it; but that allegedly teachers and other school officials did not realize it was occurring,
The parents of the tormented boy were interviewed on CBC radio last week. Barry OConnor, the Limestone Boards Director of Education, and Executive Facilitator Jack Fox were both interviewed by the Whig after the court trial and on CBC Radio the day following the parent interview.
In his interviews, OConnor alluded to the peer culture that makes it hard for children to report such incidents, and urged young people to come forward when they see incidents of bullying.
When CBCs Erika Ritter asked, How was it that nobody on the teaching staff, or the principal, were aware of this? OConnor first answered that, the evidence in the court case indicated that no one did know; there was no indication that someone found out and just ignored it. When [it was] finally brought forward by the parent, it was acted on.
OConnor then addressed the question of how it was possible that no one was aware of the continuing abuse, When you have some devious characters that seemed in larger numbers to have threatened someone, and they [referring to other peers and presumably the victim] are afraid to come forward, there is a peer culture [that makes it hard] to come forward to share with the principal or teacher or educational assistant. OConnor then reiterated the point that students need to be convinced that if they see somebody being picked on, they should tell somebody; that theyre not squealing, theyre helping. In the Whig-Standard interview, he said, Thats probably the best lesson that can come out of the [incidents].
On the CBC, OConnor and Fox both described what the school has done since the incidents in terms of stepped-up surveillance on the playground and attention to bullying in the curriculum.
OConnors comments have outraged a number of residents in our readership area. They interpret his remarks as shifting the blame to the peer culture and putting the onus for preventing further incidents on the students and the victims. In summary, they find it hard to believe that the school staff didnt know. If they didnt, people think they should have. A number of people have said that one of the lessons learned is that the school shared responsibility with others in letting the abuse go on for the better part of a year.
School bullying is not a new phenomenon it has been widely reported in the press over the past decade, and has been the subject of teacher in-service workshops throughout the province. Carmen Emery, now retired, but formerly a behavioural counsellor at Sharbot Lake High School, helped that school deal with a number of bullying incidents during the same year (1999-2000) that the incidents occurred at Prince Charles. Carmen and Vice Principal Gordon Sinclair collected 30 incidents of abuse, and had the victims tell in their own words how the abuse had affected them. These statements were then read by student council members at a special assembly, so that abusers could see clearly the impact of their bullying on their victims.
School staffs have to continuously be on the alert for bullying. The bullies have to be dealt with by the administration. Students need to know that they will be supported and that their tormentors will be consequences, said Carmen. When these incidents come to light in schools, it has been my experience that staffs usually do know about it. However, they need help in dealing with the problem leadership and support from the board administration.
One teacher, who does not want to be identified because she works for the board, pointed out that students often exhibit behaviours on the playground that teachers never see in the classroom, and it is difficult for teachers to believe that they could be bullies. She said, however, that other kids talk about it when they get inside - often in a way intended to let teachers know what is going on without directly telling; and that the victims usually display signs that they are upset. This teacher finds it hard to believe that some members of the staff at Prince Charles werent aware of what was going on.
