Canadian police arrest schoolgirls for bullying
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-20/canadian-police-arrest-eight-schoolgirls-for-bullying/4324322
Eight teenage girls have been charged with criminal harassment over bullying at a high school in Ontario, the latest in a string of high-profile and tragic incidents in Canada.
Police in the city of London, 200km west of Toronto, said the girls were arrested after an investigation into physical, emotional and online bullying of another girl at the school.
They were charged and released on a promise to appear in court. They have also been suspended from school.
“Bullying will not be tolerated in our community. The behaviour exhibited by these students is reprehensible and will be appropriately dealt with by the criminal justice system,” London Police Service said in a statement.
Police said they made sure the victim was supported and safe before they dealt with the accused bullies.
The arrests follow news last week of the suicide of Canadian teen Amanda Todd, who killed herself after years of bullying, including sexual exploitation on the internet. Todd posted a YouTube video about a month before her death to share her unhappiness and torment.
It was the latest in a string of suicides by bullying victims in Canada which have garnered widespread media attention and sparked a backlash against bullying.
On Monday, a member of parliament called for the creation of a House of Commons committee to come up with a national bullying prevention strategy, and schools, police forces and provinces have launched projects or pledges to stop bullying.
In the London incident, the bullying was reported both directly to teachers and on the school’s anonymous website portal, and immediately acted upon, said Bill Tucker, director of education at the Thames Valley District School Board.
Mr Tucker said he believes the bullying had been going on “for some time” before it was reported.
The high school held an assembly on Friday morning to address bullying and show students how seriously incidents were being taken, Mr Tucker said.
He had also been in contact with parents of two of the arrested students, and been encouraged by their reactions.
“They have been supportive of the process and the results and are committed to having their daughters learn from this,” he said.
Reuters
Window Dresser's Arms, Pig & Whistle 
I know a grown up bully. He is a liar, a cheat, has no empathy and thinks he is the ants pants. Unfortunately he got back on Council elected unopposed in a three member ward.
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I too know a grown up bully, a bitter twisted woman, she has not really grown up, she an aging female, and gets nastier by the day.
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What disturbs me here ate the last three paragraphs, I just sounds like spin. Experience here suggests otherwise as regards the parents. I’d say that even being supplied with the evidence that the parents would deny that their children were involved.
Bullying demonstrates low self esteem on behalf of the bully. they are trying to being their victim down to their level and beyond. this in extreme cases can have devastating effects.
For a school to bring in the police and have them charged suggests to me the these girls actions have been systematic and ongoing. That the school had an assembly to bring to the attention of the students their actions is a very positive message for me, the school is doing the right thing here.
When Algernonina the elder was in year 7 ( she completes her HSC this week) she came home and told us that a girl in year 10 had committed suicide, the affect on the school and its community was profound. The girl had “boy” trouble and it appeared that bullying may have been at play as well. What they put in place after this added to what had in place before.
Bullying is everywhere and in every school, in this context it’s how a school chooses to deal with it.
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The bullies are usually unhappy people, they feel a bit better when they can put someone down.
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Wish the poilice would get to the ABC ‘opinion’ and arrest a couple of bullies there as well.
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It’s typical of bullies to make the most of any opportunity when they think they can’t be caught Gerard! But that only makes me want to double-underline your wish! I’ve always despised bullies; all the more so when their cowardice is so evident…
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I particularly like it that the high school called an assembly to address the issue.
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Indeed… not only is it important that ‘justice is done’; it must also be ‘seen to be done’; only by thus underlining societal disapproval will it have any real or lasting social effect.
Often, punishing bullies can have the effect of adding to their perceived (negative) social status, however, so how the police and the rest of the legal system handle it from there is crucial; they must, at all costs, avoid anything which could in any way, make these bullies look either ‘cool’ or else like ‘victims’ themselves…
Perhaps making them do some kind of socially-oriented work which actually gives them a taste of responsibility, as well as (hopefully) a little sympathy for others (sympathy, rather than empathy, as the latter is needed even to be consciously cruel!)
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Couldn’t ‘appen to a nicer bunch o’ girls!
😉
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