Canadians want more action against bullying
CBC News
Posted: Feb 6, 2013 6:46 PM CST
Last Updated: Feb 6, 2013 6:42 PM CST
Deann Dickin is one of many Canadians calling for more action against online bullying.
Dickin said a picture of her daughter was posted to a Facebook page called, "Shit Disturber — 306."
"She was very distraught," Dickin said.
Dickin's daughter Jessica, a public school student in Regina, said the picture surfaced right before her midterm exams. The straight A student said she was worried the added stress would impact her grades.
The post suggested Dickin was 'easy.' The image was removed two days later, but the comments online and in school still sting.
"It kind of lives a little bit longer than that one-on-one playground bullying incident, which goes away once it's done," Dickin said.
According to a new online survey by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, online bullying is very hard to police.
In an online poll, 73 per cent of people surveyed in Saskatchewan and Manitoba want more action to prevent bullying. In the same poll, 94 per cent of people said schools could do more.
Sean Chase, assistant superintendent with the Regina Catholic School Division, said dealing with online bullying can be difficult.
"Often times the postings are made outside of school hours and often times they involve situations that are not related to the school," Chase said. "However, the kids are likely in conflict and if they are bringing that in to the school situation, we strongly take it upon ourselves to intervene where necessary."
Deann Dickin said she contacted a friend with the Regina Police Service to track down the person who created the post.
"Anybody could have snatched it off there at any point and time and they now have it on their computer," Dickin said. "They can repost it now, anywhere. It's always out there."
The Ministry of Education recently finished a review on bullying in Saskatchewan. It said there could be room for an anti-bullying law in the province. However, there is no word yet on what a proposed law would look like.
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