Students who bully others should be expelled

I was very disconcerted when I read the article in your June 16 issue, Discipline issue pits parents against teachers.

I am a parent of a student at Inuksuk High School and I certainly am not one of the group of parents who want to see fewer suspensions and expulsions.

As I read through the article, I realized that of the more than 500 students at Inuksuk, only four were expelled for very serious expenses and only 20 were suspended for less serious offences. This amounts to an expulsion rate of less than one per cent, and a suspension rate of only four per cent.

This seems to me to be a very commendable record, given that there are students at the high school who range in age from 13 to 21 years and older.

I was more disturbed when reading further that the IDEA represents parents who view suspensions as unproductive. Well, who is representing the parents of the 95 per cent of students who were not suspended or expelled, and who want a safe, healthy environment for their children to learn in?

I certainly would not put myself in a situation where someone was threatening or bullying me, so why would I send my child to a school where young adults who attack and bully others are not removed?

I do believe that every child should have an education, but when a young adult is a danger to others and-or themselves, safety should supercede education. How many students skip school, drop out, or take alternate classes because bullies have made school life intolerable?

Principals and teachers have many years of training and we entrust them with the care of our children. The IDEA should be supporting the schools instead of, as Jimmy Jacquard said, handcuffing the principals. The Department of Education has a large, competent, experienced staff responsible for Nunavut schools.

Does the Education Act support what the IDEA is proposing? Or are the professionally trained educators and the Department of Education staff totally out to lunch? Are the only ones with the right answers a small IDEA-appointed group who represent less than five per cent of the parents in Iqaluit?

(Name withheld by request)
Iqaluit