A commentary by a Langford resident.
Are Sooke School District administrators, faculty and elected board members sincerely committed to meaningful change?
The single most disturbing aspect of students’ commendable and courageous protests over the district’s “policy” pertaining to sexual assault complaints is the fact that over the past 30-plus years, administrators, faculty and board members have been unable to prevent or effectively respond to assaults on district property during school hours.
Am I an expert on such matters? No. Can I speak with some authority on these circumstances? Yes, and I can speak with some authority due to my professional and personal experiences having resided and worked on the Westshore for nearly four decades.
As a parent of three district grads — each of them attending elementary, middle and secondary schools in the district, the youngest having graduated from Belmont in 2007 — and having been employed in the 1990s as editor of the local weekly newspaper and, subsequently, director of a local MLA’s constituency office, these unsettling assault incidents were, and continue to be, far too common.
Professionally, complaints from parents and students would often come across my desk — complaints born from the frustration of attempting to resolve assault issues with indifferent, disingenuous district officials.
Personally, I grew weary of having to meet with faculty and administrators in response to my children being assaulted on district property during school hours. (Those multiple assaults over the course of several years were mostly of a violent, physical nature. Those assaults did not meet the legal bar of “sexual assault,” but they nevertheless included characteristics of a sexual nature, i.e. “verbal.”)
Furthermore, the root causes of bullying behaviour by those youngsters who perpetrate these assaults are, in my experience, the direct result of dysfunctional homes, domestic violence, absentee parents, little or no direction from responsible adults, etc.
We cannot attach blame to all teachers, vice-principals and principals. The vast majority of district faculty that I have interacted with over the recent decades are caring, compassionate, dedicated professionals who are hamstrung by the matrix they work within.
In reporter Cindy Harnett’s excellent coverage of these current events, I was particularly struck by the reference that the district “… has said that it made changes last year in the wake of complaints…”
Last year? What were the “changes” and why did they only happen “last year,” as opposed to, say, a quarter of a century ago?
In conclusion, here’s a fact most people are not aware of. School district administrators — not just SD62, but all school districts, regionally, provincially, nationally, globally — are terrified of the L word, Liability.
The costs of resolving legitimate claims brought forward by students who have been assaulted on school property has the potential to be colossal.
And don’t kid yourself, this tragic problem is a global epidemic and insurers do everything in their power to limit, if not extinguish, any claims that students and their parents might file.
Add to that the limited resources local police and prosecutors have at their disposal, students and parents are then left to their own devices.
Fortunately, Westshore residents are blessed with brave students and their families who are willing to take a stand and demand action.
Their cause is honourable and most worthy of the community’s support.
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