Premier Dalton McGuinty is proposing a bill that will stop bullying, but some schools are against it for religious reasons
Stefanie Kennedy
Editorial Intern
The Oxford English Dictionary says that a bully is “a person who uses strength or influence to harm or intimidate those who are weaker.” This definition clearly tells the reader what a bully is, but doesn’t explain the consequences of bullying as an act.
So when the premier of Ontario wants to help kids and teenagers deal with bullying and tries to stop it all together, you would think that everyone would be behind it.
However, that is not the case. Schools across Ontario are opposing Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Bill 13; specifically, faith-based schools. Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Evangelical, and Catholic schools have all come out to oppose Bill 13, saying it is a front for a “radical sex agenda” because the premier wants to make it mandatory for all schools to allow students to create gay-straight alliance clubs.
“I think wherever there are changes that are controversial, there will always be debate.
What I think is not debatable is the need for us to ensure that our schools are welcoming, safe, and supportive places for learning for everyone, staff and students alike. How we go about doing that might be a topic of debate”, says David McAdam, principal at Dr. G.W. Williams S.S., where McGuinty took time to talk to students from the school about bullying.
Representatives from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim groups are saying that they agree with the fact that bullying needs to be stopped, however, they say they can’t condone a gay-straight alliance club requirement.
This response is not new.
The fact that these schools and associations would oppose an anti-bullying bill because the premier is trying to make schools safer by adding this requirement to the bill is preposterous. If we have the chance to help as many kids as possible, whether they are straight or gay, we take that chance and we use it to strive towards a safer environment.
As a high school student myself, I can tell you that bullying happens. It might not be like it is on television or in the movies, in terms of the kind of abuse and how bad the bullying can be (Hollywood likes to exaggerate sometimes), but it happens. It’s happened to me, it’s happened to my mom, and it’s happened to my grandmother.
“I think we need to continue to work on how best we can work with the perpetrator, both on a response and proactive level,” recommends McAdam.
We’ve tried very hard in all our schools to prevent bullying, to teach our students about how wrong it is to bully someone. We’ve put programs into our computers, rules into our handbooks, assemblies into schedules, but the premier intervening is probably one of the best things that could happen. It shows us that the government supposedly gives a damn. It shows us that all the teen suicides that have happened lately have not gone unnoticed.
A good deal of the attention bullying is now receiving from the government and government officials is linked to the suicide of Jamie Hubley, the son of Allan Hubley, city councilor for Kanata South. Jamie was 15 years old when he committed suicide on October 15, 2011 after being bullied for being openly gay. It seems that due to Jamie being an openly gay teenager, a brighter light has been shed on the fact that acceptance of homosexuality is not as habitual or commonplace as we thought.
This suicide in fact, brought so much attention that it seems as if the gay-straight alliance club aspect of the premier’s new bill was added—or at least strengthened—because of this ordeal. It does not forgive the fact that he took his own life, but he did not die in vain.
Neither did Mitchell Wilson, the 11-year-old boy who committed suicide after being mugged by a 12-year-old and then was constantly hounded and bullied by his attackers. Mitchell also suffered from depression due to the incident, which ultimately led him to commit suicide on September 6, 2011.
One of the problems we face as a population is that we are always attracted to the easy way out. We try to tell our generation that suicide is wrong, to think about the effects, to think about the people, and to know that you are not alone. Well, we are alone.
For many of us, we think about what people do and say over and over and over again. We begin to think its true, or in the case of false rumours, that no one will ever believe it’s a lie. It’s unfair but it still happens. This will continue to happen unless we stop bullying from the start.
Dalton McGuinty wants to “send a very clear, strong, and direct message: we will not tolerate bullying of any kind, at any time, for any reason,” something that should have been taught a long time ago. If the government can’t help the kids off school property, then we might as well do all we can in the school. Even the Conservative party has introduced their own anti-bullying bill.
“I think when disagreements happen, they’re an opportunity for a sober second-thought. And I would anticipate that that is part of the process that’s happening right now around the bill,” concludes McAdam.
Religion should not be an obstacle on the path to freeing our school from bullies. Use your faith and put a little into Bill 13, use your goodwill and help those in need. Don’t let moralistic squabbling get in the way of saving a child’s life.
