To the attention of:
EductatioMinister
Jody Carr
Constituency Office: Oromocto
P. O. Box 20022
Oromocto, NB
E2V 2R6
Canada
We the undersigned are concerned parents and citizins who insist that a zero tolerance anti-bullying policy be implemented in the New Brunswick School system, particularly pertaining to, but not limited to Schools in District 18 in the Fredericton Area. We also feel strongly that children must be taught at the elementary school level that their bullying behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. This teaching should involve harsher disciplinary action at earlier ages, in addition to speaking to the children about what bullying is and why it is important not to treat other human beings that way. Instead of loosing 1 recess and getting a phone call home, they could instead loose a whole week of recess, or for especially serious instances or for repeat offenses they could face in school or out of school suspension for a period of time. It would also help to reassure parents that actions are being taken against bullying if the government would implement a way to monitor individual schools, at random, that they are indeed following the zero tolerance policy.
These harsher punishments, if instilled at the elementary school level, will instill in these young children that their actions are wrong and they may become less likely to do worse and worse incidents as they grow older. Only through teaching anti-bullying at the elementary school level can we prevent serious bullying instances such as those we have recently seen in the media, where the boy from leo hayes high had to move away to escape bullying , or a girl from FHS was sexually assaulted and had her clothing stripped off of her to the point that because of the schools neglect to do anything about the situation the parents had to hire their daughter a personal body guard, or the situations in hampton, nb where students hair was cut and another students hair burnt. Or the incident at a Saint John area elementary school where a bully kicked another child in the back of the knee so hard it broke the students leg.
Not only is bullying becoming very prevalent in today's society, the instances of bullying are getting worse and worse at younger and younger ages. If immediate actions are not taken to put a stop to bullying with a zero tolerance policy, soon we are going to be facing elementary aged children bringing weapons into the schools, wither for the purpose of being a bully or for their personal protection against the kids who are doing the bullying. This is something none of us want to see happen in our new brunswick schools.
Thank you in advance for your immidiate attention to this very serious matter.