At Lumsden High School, bullying is no secret.
“It’s never really bad here, but when it is it gets around pretty quickly,” said one student.
“You find out about everything, the littlest of things,” another said.
The topic is making its way to town council too.
A request from a resident means Lumsden could be a step closer to having a bullying bylaw.
“When it gets to a point where it’s destructive, dangerous, I think it’s a real issue,” said Lumsden mayor Bryan Matheson. “Certainly something our town doesn’t want.”
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Lumsden wouldn’t be the best.
In the Town of Grenfell, a new bylaw could fine bullies up to $1000. If they don’t pay, the town will take it to court.
“If you’re not prepared to go the full way, it’s difficult to enforce when you don’t have the backing of everyone,” said Grenfell mayor Lloyd Gwilliam.
“If we can take a proactive step, one morning we won’t pick up the newspaper and see one of our teens committed suicide because of something that was ignored.”
The City of Regina passed its own bylaw in 2006, calling it a deterrent.
“For a community standard, it’s important council make a statement that we support anti-bullying programs,” said mayor Michael Fougere.
Lumsden’s mayor isn’t sure exactly how the town will press forward against bullying, but it will be a topic on the town council’s agenda on October 21.
“I’m sure Lumsden is no different than any community,” Matheson said. “How serious is the issue? That’s the question.”
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