Samantha Crawley has been dealing with bullying for years. Most of the time, she says it’s verbal abuse: either in person or online.
“People would yell at me in class, telling me that I’m ugly and that I should kill myself,” said the Grade 7 student during an interview with Global News.
Last week, Samantha said the bullying went to a new level and she was assaulted during the lunch hour.
“She hit me right here,” said the 12-year-old, pointing to the side of her head. “It was pretty hard.”
The incident happened outside Southdale-North Woodside School in Dartmouth, N.S.
Samantha’s mother, Alexa Crawley, is speaking out. She said this isn’t the first time her daughter has been targeted and doesn’t feel the school board is taking things seriously.
“It did happen on the road, in front of the school, on the road which is off school property. But I reminded them that it was during lunch time, which is during school hours,” she said.
Crawley said there are two supervisors for the back of the school, but none for the front. She is concerned with teachers currently on work-to-rule job action, there is even less supervision at the school then there was before.
“They’re apparently in the school but you’d have to find them,” said Crawley. “They aren’t monitoring any situations that are going on.”
A spokesperson for the Halifax Regional School Board confirms there has never been supervision at the front of the school, something that hasn’t changed since work-to-rule started.
“This incident occurred off the school grounds during lunch hour and is not related to a perceived lack of supervision resulting from work-to-rule,” Doug Hadley, with the Halifax Regional School Board, said.
“In many schools, students choose to leave the property at lunch and there has never been an expectation that they will be supervised once they leave.”
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Alexa Crawley feels the situation involving her daughter could have been much worse and wants more supervision in place at the school.
“It’s a safety concern. She’s Type 1 diabetic, if she would have went low, she would have passed out and she would have been unable to run around the school looking for somebody,” said Crawley.
“When the school was made aware of the incident, they addressed it with the students and their families. All schools, including Southdale-North Woodside, work extremely hard to promote positive relationships among all students,” said Hadley.
“If any family is concerned about their child’s safety at any time when they are at school, they should contact the school to have their concerns addressed.”
The attack was allegedly recorded by other students at the school. Although Samantha wasn’t injured, she’s nervous to return to class.
“I wake up and I just don’t want to go to school,” she said.