Troubled Nunavut school sees more violence
“Students who commit serious violent acts against teachers or their fellow students should face expulsion from the school,” union says
Tuugaalik High School in Naujaat saw more violence this past week. (File photo)
Shaken staff at Tuugaalik High School in Naujaat say that another attack against a staff member has taken place in the school, not even two weeks after two staff members said they were assaulted in two other incidents.
Nunavut Teachers Association staff had planned to go to the Kivalliq community this week to provide support to the teachers, but due to the Government of Nunavut’s travel restrictions due to the new coronavirus, this visit was cancelled over the weekend.
Since that time, Nunavut’s chief medical officer has also recommended that all schools and daycares close to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
The most recent attack against staff at the high school, which serves about 200 students, occurred on Thursday, March 12, according to the Nunavut Teachers Association and several sources close to the school who are not authorized to speak to the media and who fear retribution if identified.
The sources allege that an enraged student attacked an school administrator and then threw a large printer on to the floor, smashing it to pieces. They say the victim had to go to the health centre.
Police in Naujaat were not called to the school at the time, said the Nunavut RCMP, but the alleged victim is expected to file a complaint in connection with this incident.
Two fights between students also took place at the high school.
One source close to the school told Nunatsiaq News that the school is “out of control.”
John Fanjoy of the NTA said his union learned about the incident involving the staff member on Thursday, March 12.
“We were made aware of the second violent incident late last night, and are providing supports for all teachers affected,” he told Nunatsiaq News in a Friday, March 13 email.
The Naujaat District Education Authority and the Kivalliq School Operations must take proactive measures to provide a safe learning environment for students and teachers, he said.
“Students who commit serious violent acts against teachers or their fellow students should face expulsion from the school until the Government of Nunavut can provide the adequate supports needed to get them the help they need and reintegrate them into the school,” Fanjoy said.
“Just sending a student who had been violent home for a few days, provide that student with zero counselling or support, and allowing them back in school is not working and putting others at risk of further violence.”
On March 13, the school in the community of about 1,000 remained closed as teachers called in sick.
Education Department managers visited the school following the first attacks. But sources say that school staff felt they didn’t receive enough support and weren’t able to resolve their concerns about violence in the school.
In response to questions from Nunatsiaq News after the first explosion of violence at the high school, the Education Department sent an emailed statement on March 16, which it said could be attributed to Education Minister David Joanasie, who was not available for an interview.
“The Department of Education is currently focused on the extraordinary circumstances around COVID-19. With the support of the Department of Health and the Chief Public Health Officer, the Department of Education is focused on supporting schools and child care facilities, providing guidance on steps that will help reduce the spread of respiratory viruses,” he said.
And to protect the privacy of those involved, the department cannot speak to the details of these or other incidents, he said.
“Any violent incidents involving students in schools is addressed using each DEA’s Inuuqatigiitsiarniq policy, and my Department works with schools to create and maintain positive school environments, he said.
Under the Inuuqatigiitsiarnirq discipline policy regulations for the Education act, the stated goal of the education system is to “create and maintain a welcoming, positive and safe school environment that is supportive of the students and their education.”
The trouble with that statement is that the safety of teachers and students is put on an equal footing to being welcoming and positive. Safety should be #1.
This lopsided treatment between keeping students in school even though they pose a safety risk is reflected throughout the entire regulation.
The teachers union may want students expelled but that is easier said than done. Education Administrators need to go through a very lengthy process in order to expel a student. One part of the process almost seems like they have to do a Gladue Report on the offending student, which I am sure must stretch the resources of any school in the territory.
Looking at alternatives, discussions, notices – its all in this regulation as the education system contorts itself trying its best not to expel a student no matter what.
At some point it really does not matter why johnny boy is violent, it is the matter of fact that he is.
Here we are shutting our schools down for a virus. The safety of our students has come first as it should in dealing with this disease. Why is it that we have no problem denying every student in Nunavut an education for Covid-19, while making it very hard to keep out someone who would bust your head open?
MLAs called for a violence free territory a while ago and the whole focus there was to point out this extended to anyone regardless of sexual orientation. Should it not follow the same should be wished for of people in our education system?
You’re right.
Many of these policies were written at a time there was a huge surplus of teachers in Canada, and teachers were easily replaced. There was an expectation there would always be quality teachers willing to accept any job. This stands true for many jurisdictions, not just Nunavut and Nunavik.
Now today, there is a national shortage of teachers, and oddly enough, rural BC and rural Alberta are almost as desperate for teachers as Nunavut and completely dependent on recruiting from other provinces..
IMO British Columbia is the nicest province in Canada to live in , and Nunavut finds itself in direct competition with BC to recruit teachers from the east. At a time when very few teachers feel desperate, and eastern teachers think they can land jobs at home.
This type of press kills Nunavut’s recruiting.
Assault is assault whether it takes place on the street, in the home or in the school. Doesn’t take a lot to figure out that the situation has to be dealt with either through suspension and counselling or in serious situations, criminal charges. This goes for bullying also because the well studied bully will graduate to become an abusive adult.
Our principal here goes straight to the police. No suspension or counselling first.
Then the students get restraining order and when they’re not allowed near the privileged, they drop out at 11 or 12 years old.
Same goes for the staff that are not professional at all, getting kids charged just because their child says they’re bullied; when they are bullies themselves, not the other way around.
This is the same problem from years and years ago and will continue to get worse. Not only will it continue the teacher will be expected to teach the students when they return. Done believe me start asking around students will be mandated by court to go back to school. Small schools cant just change teachers and students classes same as usual a Government and a Teachers Union that is afraid to do what is right and thats kick the student out come back next year would start setting an example for sure.
The powers that be need to realize that anger, rage , domestic violence , alcohol and drug abuse,control over others all starts in the home saying that your going to extinguisher family violence in 10 years is a falsity…first of all where is the programming for anger and rage where is the in house program for bullying in the school because without it their behavior will spill over into the work place. What are the responsible DEA members doing to protect the teachers and the other children from someone else’s wrath. In my day parents were notified by the school of what their little angels were up to, trouble makers were suspended from school . It seems to me that the DEA’s in Nunavut have no jurisdiction to do anything to protect anyone attending school.
Words attributed to, and possibly even proof read by the Minister David Joanasie:
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“Any violent incidents involving students in schools is addressed using each DEA’s Inuuqatigiitsiarniq policy” and my Department works with schools to create and maintain positive school environments, he said.
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As a parent to children in Nunavut I would like to know what those efforts are? I ask this knowing there will be no answer.
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As I see it invoking the labyrinthine maze of Inuuqatigiitsiarnirq is to employ an obscurantist approach, where the protective veil of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit cloaks the department, the minister, and even the school from any further [and any serious] discussion [for which the minister and department are completely unprepared], and any criticism [because you know, we just don’t do that here].
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This is not an acceptable response at all by the Minister, but it is a telling one.
Far too many students in Nunavut feel entitled, education is a wonderful privilege that many in the world don’t have access to. Expel the violent students; don’t hold their hands and say poor you….teachers deserve to be able to work in a safe environment as do all of the other students; in my my many decades experience in Nunavut schools I came to realize early that the 1% weren’t; the privileged; they were the major troublemakers that made life miserable for everyone else….sorry but they lose their ‘right’ to attend when they continue to assault and disrupt everyone around them. Do they need help?….Absolutely…but the schools can’t solve everything …community step up and do something…get the troubled youth into some help, BUT out of the school.
Having been a teacher and administrator for 36 years (some of this on Baffin Island), I can say that quick action needs to be taken when there is violence involved. If it is an assault, RCMP need to open a file and the student should be out for an extended period of time. This will provide the system the time needed to do a Violence & Risk Assessment, as well as to search for supports for the child involved. If this is not done, these situations always end up bad, and will have the opposite affect by making the situation worse for Nunavut.
What I find interesting about all of the other comments is that, while perhaps suggested in a few, the saddest part of all this is that students, staff, gov’t and parents all lose focus on the many great children you have in your schools – I know, I’ve been there…
This is a complex problem. I lived and worked in this community for a few years and am a psychotherapist. Violent behaviour by children is both a simple and complex issue. For children and youth, anger is the easiest emotion to express on a continuum of emotions. For this reason we need to be careful about assessing a young person as oppositional, or as violent simply for violence’s sake. There needs to be a thorough psychodynamic assessment of all parties and a comprehensive picture developed of all involved, including the teachers so that a report can be produced with recommendations that are doable and distinct to each of the parties involved. Otherwise, results will be short term and, especially in a small community where people do not have the choice of geographic mobility, more violence is likely to erupt when people become more and more frustrated.
It’s because parents defend their children publicly even when they are in the wrong. We could see this from public posts from Naujat a few months ago. Parents starts hating principals publicly and it should not be allowed.
The child in question may have had his/ her parents defend him/ her from a teacher or others even when he/ she was in the wrong. This is against Inuit social values to back up your child when he’s done wrong publicly.
We keep hearing about this one school but I wonder what’s happening in other schools around Nunavut? I work in a school in nunavut that’s had 3 expulsions this year due to violence. Shouldn’t teachers and students be safe regardless of which community they live in? How can Naujaat even be allowed to not expel when a teacher has been violently assaulted. Maybe WSCC needs to step in and order a safe workplace be provided. Maybe the union should be suing the employer for failing to provide a safe workplace?
This is not primarily a psychobabble problem. Schools need to keep students interested, physically active and busy. Not just during the basic school hours but, especially, out of school time too,
Do schools have programs for music, carpentry and small engine maintenance? Do they put on school plays and concerts? Do they function after school and during the evenings and weekend? Is there supervised homework and if not, why not?
Do the schools have exercise programs like the ones the Y runs in the South? Far too many Nunavut students are overweight because lack of exercise prevents the metabolism to adjust to excess food, especially food with sugar content.
One template for saving a highly dysfunctional community was the one in Inuvik that provided the backbone for Canada’s cross-country ski team in 3 consecutive Wuiner5 Olympics.