‘Violent incident’ puts Inuksuk High School into lockdown
No students injured, according to Iqaluit school’s official Facebook page
Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit went into lockdown last Thursday after a violent incident. (File photo)
Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit went into lockdown after a teacher was injured last Thursday during what the school called a “violent incident.”
“IHS experienced a lockdown at 10:04 a.m. [Thursday] morning due to a violent incident in the school. No students were injured,” the official Facebook page for Inuksuk High School said on Thursday.
Department of Education spokesperson Krista Amey confirmed the incident in an email to Nunatsiaq News on Monday, adding the lockdown was lifted after six minutes.
Iqaluit District Education Authority chairperson Nicole Giles confirmed Monday that a teacher had suffered minor injuries. She did not provide further details.
The RCMP did not respond to questions about whether police responded to the school during the lockdown, if the incident led to any charges or if there is an investigation.
The Education Department would not answer follow-up questions about the reported injury.
“To protect the privacy of individuals involved, we cannot share information about the specific incident,” Kim Foster, the department’s manager of communications, said Tuesday.
Nunavut’s Department of Education has been tracking violence in the territory’s schools since October 2022. A summary of violent incidents dating from October 2022 to June 2023, was provided by the department to Nunatsiaq News for a previous story.
No identifying information was provided in that data summary.
Asked why the department would not confirm whether a teacher was injured or if a student was involved in Thursday’s lockdown, an unsigned email from the department said that providing a summary of data over months maintains individuals’ privacy while providing information about a specific incident does not protect it.
This is beyond pathetic. An incident violent enough to require a lockdown and an injury reported — but not a student — and what is the GN response? A nameless bureaucrat stonewalls. There is a Canada-wide teacher shortage; see https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/teacher-shortage-has-staff-across-canada-working-in-survival-mode-1.7140253. Given all the other opportunities, what teacher in their right mind would come to Nunavut with this nonsense. Oh, right, let’s depend on all the teachers trained in Nunavut or Nunavummiut trained elsewhere — how is that working out?
Doesn’t really matter – whole town knows anyway.
Everyone except the ‘Washington Post of the North’ apparently.
It does matter. Just because many people know about it, the GN still has a duty to be transparent.
Time for an MLA to ask about it in the Leg.
Somebody absolutely should. Sadly there will be no meaningful response. This government’s tactic is to deny, deflect, deceive and defer when asked to be transparent about issues .
How could this happen? Hasn’t the Dept. of Education been using its mystical “tracking system” that is supposed to inspire “preventative measures” that will also inspire “corrective and preventative actions to take” in the face of school violence?
Pamela Gross Quote, Oct 26, 2023
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/parents-scared-to-send-kids-to-school-after-violent-incident-ailivik-mla/
I am in no rooting for the student…but oh how the tables have turned….Teachers abused the students in the past, but now students are abusing the teachers…As ye sow, so shall ye reap!
Mid-wits out themselves by the use of simple fallacies. ‘Guilt by association’ is a good example, because there is some resemblance between them, teachers today bear karmic responsibility for what (some) teachers in the past did. “You reap what you sew”! … Tell us more about who this “you” is?
Might, could be,.
Been a residential school Warrior I understand the resentment and wanting revenge.
Mammianaq.
lol, what a quote. Just a total word salad with no actual thought or meaning. It’s enough to make a skilled linguist want to retire and spend life in seclusion 😂. Please, to the voters of Cambridge Bay, spare us the embarrassment of another term. But that quote should make the greatest hits compilation of this elected government, working title “Tragic Mystery Tour”. Though I hear that they’re open to suggestions, so NN commenters please submit your ideas.
If the past is any predictor of the present and future, I imagine the teacher will be blamed for this incident.
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/students-accused-of-assaulting-two-nunavut-teachers-in-naujaats-school-last-week/
I understand that most go to defend the teacher. But I cannot help but wonder about the attitude of the teacher and if the student had reasons behind the “violent incident”. Children and youth have a keen understanding if they are being disrespected and not heard. Yes, it’s not okay how the teacher was assaulted but there are many preventative tactics that could have been done by the teacher/admin before the incident, did that happen? Or was the teacher using their power to control and oppress?
A lot of questions that I hope the IDEA will look into but I suspect that IHS has chosen to expel for the remainder of the year and potentially that student may never return. Maybe we need to consider if youth are being pushed out and its the system that needs adjustments.
Gossip and victim blaming/shaming. This is right up there with “well it shouldn’t have happened but what were they expecting when they wore that outfit?”
Excellent speculation…….I can’t help but wonder if your attitude perpetuates this type of behaviour. Your silly speculation sounds very much like victim blaming.
Do you do the same with victims of sexual abuse? Saying things like “maybe she should not have been wearing that skirt?”
What about domestic abuse? “Maybe she should have just kept quiet and not bothered him?”
Use your common sense. Do not speculate without some actual knowledge of the event…..you sound like Fox News.
Victim blaming, nice twist “Hmm Cancel” but that was not what I was stating in my silly speculation. Bigger picture is the system that has continually failed those who needed it the most has not supported our youth and you can see that in the % of dropouts.
Your remark about “she deserved it” is not even worth my time, do better.
What preventative tactic could have stopped this?
You must know more about this situation than the average reader. Or are you projecting some kind of fantasy?
Blaming the teacher – it was done to us several decades ago so now it is their turn to suffer the abuse, teachers using their power to control and oppress. What a load of crap. I am not a teacher, not related to anyone teaching in the North but when I read these comments and can tell that the writers have never been in any school recently. Teachers are over worked under paid and are there mainly to help the next generation. In Nunavut according to the union agreements the starting salary for a teacher is 68,293 as of July 1st 2023. An Income Support Worker for the GN currently advertised starts at 76,609, so you have to ask what causes a teacher to continue do what they do.
The problem is that there are no standards from K-grade 9, you can miss all the school, sleep during class, talk back and bully all you want and there is no accountability for any of it. Then all of a sudden there are milestones and minimums you have to achieve; frustration sets in and it is the poor high school teacher which bears the brunt of the students. Any teacher reading this Alberta teaching jobs start at 67K, but without the disrespect and judgement that comes with teaching here.
It is a sign of the times. At school or elsewhere civility is fading away and the worst thing of it is the strong influential globalist agenda where chaos is sought as it brings a reason for a greater concentration of authority to a few. The way around it or a way around it is to maintain local organization to blunt their influence. Whitney Webb for anyone interested is an authority.
Look at the stats, go into the schools, talk to the youth, and then state I am .victim blaming? Gossip? There are always two sides to the story but my gossip is only because the stats make or should make you wonder and ask questions.
I mixed up your comment with the next person and so I responded to your “she deserved it” below.
So to frame your point a little differently, if you squint and look you’ll see a blob of stuff that kind of looks like some other stuff so, it’s fair to suggest they are in fact the same thing.
Cool…
We cannot make judgement until we hear all sides of what really happened. Everyone is casting their stones… too soon.