‘Mental health starts here’: Mom speaks out about bullying at Winnipeg elementary school
A Winnipeg mom says she’s at a loss for what to do, after she says her daughter’s complaints of bullying went unaddressed by the administration at Lord Selkirk School in Winnipeg.
The mom, who will not be named to protect her child’s identity, says her 9-year-old daughter has been the victim of consistent bullying during the last year, at the hands of her classmates.
“[It’s] a lot of name-calling. Calling her stupid. Telling her she’s not part of anything, that she’s not good enough.”
In one incident she says her daughter brought in cookies for Valentine’s Day, only to be met with insults and mean comments.
“She brings these cookies to class and they all say thank you to her face. They then switch classes and she’s being taunted by the peers she just gave a treat to. About how stupid she is for bringing in these cookies, and how dumb she was, and ‘Oh look at her, a goody-two-shoes for bringing in cookies’. She brought them something, she gave them something, and they turned around and bullied her.”
The mom says she brought the issue up with her daughter’s teacher, but not much changed.
“They said, ‘Okay, we’ll take note of it’. And her teacher seemed to sort of address it saying that he had been seeing it in the class. And then he would try. It didn’t seem to have any effect, at least for my daughter.”
Breaking news from Canada and around the world sent to your email, as it happens.
The mom says she later got the school’s administration involved when the harassment moved to her daughter’s school email.
“I brought it to the teacher, the guidance counsellor, and the principal, showing them the screenshots, saying ‘Look this is happening on a school email address, during school time.’ This is kind of like the next level of bullying. And I got no response from the guidance counsellor or the principal.”
The mom says she continued to have meetings with school administrators, and an assistant superintendent at Winnipeg School Division, but the bullying continued.
In a statement to Global News, Matt Henderson, the superintendent at Winnipeg School Division, says he would not comment on issues related to specific children or families.
But, Henderson says the division is aware of the complaint, and he is “confident that the school is addressing it with the intensity that is required.”
In one of her meetings with the school, the mom says the principal excused the bullying by claiming her daughter was “socially delayed”.
“I just sat there kind of dumbfounded. Like it took me a while to process it, because it was just like, did the principal of this school just a) diagnose my child, even though she does not have the medical degree for that. And b) tell me that it’s ok to bully someone if they have some sort of disability?”
Lord Selkirk School outlines consequences for “unacceptable behaviours”, like bullying, in its code of conduct. Those repercussions include counselling, mediation, in-school suspensions, out of school suspensions, a reduced school day, and expulsion.
But the mom says she isn’t aware of any interventions taken by the school to address the kids she says are bullying her daughter.
“I almost at this point, don’t blame the kids because they haven’t been given a consequence to change their behaviour. I believe that what they say in the handbook is appropriate. But the reality is, there’s no action behind what they’re saying.”
Global News also reached out to the admin staff at Lord Selkirk School directly, and did not receive a response.
Meantime, the mom says the last year of bullying has had a severe impact on her daughter.
“[It’s] is really affecting her mental health. […] She is not the same child, and we’re seeing it at home as well. She’s pulling back, whereas normally she would be more bubbly and excited, or be right in there with the kids. She’s holding herself back. She’s not fully engaged. She’s nervous to be within a large group of kids at one time. And we can see it and I’ve had other adults go, what’s wrong? Is she okay?”
She says something needs to change. Sooner, rather than later.
“When I was my daughter’s age, mental health wasn’t a thing. But now [we] are realizing that [mental health] starts here. And I refuse to let my child have this life altering effect on her because the school refused to do anything.”
