Regina School Incident Has Me Wondering
Tags: bullying, school, social interest, theory
I just finished reading the Globe and Mail’s reporting of a school incident that took place in Regina. An expelled student burst into morning chapel and while holding a gun, demanded that his four pages of grievances be read out to the 460 people assembled. The rest of the article describes the heroism of the teacher who wrestled the firearm free ( a C02 pellet gun) and the horror of the children, and finale? “It just goes to show this could anywhere, anytime.”
My question: What was in those four pages of grievances?
Throwing our hands in the air and saying, “He is mentally ill, or a behavior case,” misses the point that children arrive at that point of dysfunction only after years and years of being misunderstood, and therefore mistreated, by peers and authorities.
So we expel them. Where do we think they go? To Greyhound buses…
If you are starting to feel that this could happen anywhere, then maybe we are finally thinking in a community-minded enough way to know that all people in our community need to feel they belong and are cared for by their fellow man; and that we need to fully resource schools and train teachers so we respond to children who are clearly acting out in ways that show their pain from the earliest of ages. We need to teach students about inclusivity and differences so that they can create a culture of caring with their classmates. How many children does it take to make a school bully? One to play the role of the bully, and a community exclude him until he snaps.
I want to read that note…
One Response to “Regina School Incident Has Me Wondering”
Lynn
Alyson,
You are 100% right!! The frustration for some children is unbearable and to feel that they are not being heard or treated fairly only creates stronger feelings.
I understand you can not have children running around with guns/weapons/toy guns. However, why does it take a child to go to this extreme to be heard or in some cases left alone?
Indirectly related to this topic I would like to share how my child’s school solved a problem with a ball.
Our son brought a basket ball to school each day to play at recess. At the end of the day, when the children would stand in line to wait for the bus, an older boy (3 years older) decided to grab the ball and throw it away so that our son would have to remove himself from the bus line and run after it. He repeatedly did this on a daily basis. Each day our son would tell the teacher on duty, who was clearly not interested in solving this problem. Finally, one day, my husband went to the school and watched this older boy take our sons ball and throw it away, just as he told us what happened each day. My husband spoke with the principal who advised him, that she would end this problem. How did the school solve this?
Our son was not allowed to bring the ball to school anymore. Hmmm – I really wonder what this taught the boy who threw the ball and my son who did not do anything wrong?
Something to think about anyways.