Bullying and extortion at school in Quebec: plan, report, recourse
A child who no longer wants to go to school says more than an incident report. What a school must have, how a report is really filed, and when a situation leaves the schoolyard.
A child who no longer wants to go to school says more than an incident report. What a school must have, how a report is really filed, and when a situation leaves the schoolyard.
A dated fact beats a feeling
"He is being harassed" opens no file; "on September 12, during recess, another student threw his coat in the toilet, and he came back without his coat" does. The first useful step is one page: date, place, what happened, who was there, what was done.
What the school must have
Every school must have an anti-bullying and violence plan and make it accessible; it names the person who receives a report, how it is recorded, what measures exist and how the reporting person is informed. A school that cannot produce that plan has already answered part of the question.
Escalating complaints
First the school, then the school service centre's complaints officer, then the regional student ombudsman within the national student ombudsman network. It is a recourse designed for students and parents and independent from the school bodies; a report about sexual violence can go straight to the regional ombudsman.
When it leaves the schoolyard
Threats, assault, intimate images, extortion: report to the police without waiting for the school, and consider a complaint to the human rights commission for discrimination.
Official sources
- Quebec — rights of students and complaints
- Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse