March 28, 2024

School officials: young suicide victim didn’t fall through the cracks

Officials at the Maple Ridge school district want to assure parents they have several programs in place to prevent bullying, but they also need their help.

This, after a 15-year-old girl killed herself this week after repeated taunts and threats from her peers.

District spokeswoman Irena Pochop reiterates what we’ve heard from school officials: there were supports in place for Amanda Todd.
 
“This is not a child who slipped through the cracks. We did have significant and community supports in place. But we do need more community involvement and more parent support.”

Pochop lists some initiatives: a forum on cyberbullying, handing out the principal’s and vice-principal’s phone numbers so kids can report problems, and holding assemblies on how students must respect each other.

And they take immediate action on any bullying case that gets reported. 

But she says they would really like to see more parent involvement to help build safety and respect.

While refusing to take questions on other matters, BC’s premier is making herself available to comment on anti-bullying, one of her pet causes.

Christy Clark addressed the issue again during a live interview on CBC Newsworld this morning in Vancouver,  saying education is the key.

“If I ever get a chance or I ever get back into government, one of the things that I’m going to do is that I’m going to go out and I’m going to do whatever we can to combat bullying. So, we’ve just begun. We are beginning to educate 15-thousand educators around the province –give them that tool box. Next month, we’ll have the online reporting tool up and it will be available to parents and to students. We are going to devote at least one professional development day for every teacher, every year, to dealing with bullying.”

Clark says she hasn’t spoken yet with Amanda Todd’s family, but she’s pleased the 15-year old girl’s mother wants the video she posted last month to stay online.

In it, Amanda explains the torture she suffered from other teenagers… both online and in person.
 

CKNW Vancouver News

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