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PUBLICATION:
The Gazette (Montreal) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mother fired
up over bullying ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Vaudreuil mother says her daughter has been a victim of almost daily bullying and that officials at Pierre Elliott Trudeau elementary school are not doing enough to stop it. "I expect my daughter to be able to attend school without being terrorized by fellow students," said Lucille Godbout,whose 8-year-old daughter, Rebecka Roy, says she has been a target of verbal and physical abuse during school hours. But principal Lorel Crawford said the school has handled the matter seriously and efficiently. "I can assure you we don't have a bullying problem on school grounds," she said. "Once we were made aware of the problem, we took the necessary steps." One boy was apparently suspended for a day after he tried to slap Rebecka in the face. But three of his friends allegedly punched and kicked her in the schoolyard as "retribution," Godbout said. "They tripped her to the ground and they were kicking her," Godbout said. "Nobody did anything." She said her older daughter, Paige, 11, finally intervened. Rebecka came home with bruises and a bump on her head, Godbout said. "The school did nothing to protect her safety." She said that despite the suspension and one teacher talking to the kids about bullying, very little has been done to protect Rebecka, who also has had her hair pulled by some girls. Crawford said there has been a lot of misinformation about the incident. She said Godbout hasn't been to the school all year to meet with school officials, and that administrators only heard about the alleged abuse the week before spring break. She said the children's stories "don't converge" and that it is very difficult to determine the truth, because neither she nor Godbout witnessed the bullying. But she said the school has a network of Peaceful Pals, which is comprised of Grade 5 and 6 students who are trained in peer mediation who can be approached by children in difficulty. "We also try to empower the students to tell an adult," Crawford said. But Godbout said when her daughter tried to tell a teacher what was going on, she was told "to stop looking for attention. How can a kid complain if this is how they're going to be answered?" Godbout sent a letter to the school as an official complaint, but she says it is unfair that her daughter now has to remain inside during recess while the alleged bullies get to be outside. "I'm appalled," she said. "My daughter was kept in one day while the bullies got to go out and play." But Crawford said Rebecka was kept in at Godbout's request. "What choice did I have?" Godbout asked. "She's a daily victim of hitting, kicking, punching and pushing her face into the fence." |