NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. – Several devastating cases of bullying have prompted the Battlefords community to take action. After only two months of planning, businesses, schools, and leaders came together to host the Bully Free Battlefords event.
“We’ve had some tragedies in our community in the most recent months, and we wanted to make sure that we provided people, and parents, and everybody with the supports that they needed,” said event co-chair Amanda Maunula.
Fifteen-year-old North Battleford teen Todd Loik took his own life in September. His mother said the tragedy was due to severe bullying.
“I’m in the classroom, I see that bullying is an issue. I think it’s actually a lot worse than we think it is,” said grade four teacher Alexis Christianson.
Dozens of photos of community members and students hung along the walls of the event, with the key words “I matter” underneath each picture, which was the central message of the event.
“I just want everyone to feel like life is a gift, and that they matter, and that somebody loves them, no matter what,” explained Christianson.
The event provided resources for parents, educators, and youth.
Travis Price is the co-founder of the Pink Shirt Anti-Bullying Campaign. He made the trip from Halifax to share his story.
“Like most kids it started out with name calling when I was very young, and it progressed to me getting beat up, getting pushed into lockers, to the point where my parents didn’t know what to do with me, they were doing everything they could,” Price explained.
A highly-anticipated, provincial anti-bullying report was released this week, proposing the idea of an online reporting tool and a website with anti-bullying materials.
For the Bully Free Battlefords event organizers, it was about igniting change from the ground up.
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