Problems are true, parent confirms
A parent at Jack Hulland Elementary School says much of the criticism being hurled at the Yukon government by the opposition parties is correct.
A parent at Jack Hulland Elementary School says much of the criticism being hurled at the Yukon government by the opposition parties is correct.
The woman, who didn’t want her name published, told the Star Thursday afternoon she has missed two weeks of work cumulatively in the last year due to dealing with incidents at the school.
Most recently, she said, her son was in the classroom when a fellow Grade 6 student had a meltdown. That student broke a window and caused a disturbance severe enough to disrupt the entire school.
The mother said her son saw the student bleed profusely, and found the whole experience traumatic.
The school, she said, failed to provide her with any of the details of what had happened.
Instead, her son did.
He hasn’t wanted to return to the school since – and she isn’t happy with the lack of details on the situation.
Last year, while he was in Grade 5, her son was assaulted by another student and suffered a concussion.
Once again, school staff failed to provide many details – including the concussion.
“He’s attended school there all the way through,” the parent told the Star.
“The problems are throughout the school, not just in one class or program.”
Comments (26)
Up 9 Down 1
Groucho d'North on Nov 11, 2021 at 9:58 am
@Stop the Saviourism...
Bravo! I completely agree with your statements. Our society is morphing into barbarism due to a number of influences where personal responsibility no longer matters. Everybody is a victim of something, which seemingly allows some to violate laws and behave as they wish either under the influence or clear minded.
At our grandparents knee most of us learned the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others due unto you. It's quite simple really.
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Tired on Nov 10, 2021 at 2:21 pm
Remember when Cryin’ Currie so desperately wanted the Ledge back in session so we could get back to the business of getting the Yukon running again?
So far he’s whined on incessantly about active criminal and internal investigations on the House floor that could contaminate those very processes causing them to fail.
Now we are wasting QP talking about a broken window in an elementary school? Who cares? This goes on regularly. Fights, drugs, bullying (remember 2 YP members doing exactly that via text this summer) vandalism happen in the schools. It gets dealt with the best the schools can and we move on to the next incident.
Cryin’ Currie has torn a page from the Trump playbook, and it’s one of the ugliest pages: politicize EVERYTHING. Turn citizens against each other. Be confrontational are EVERY turn. It’s disgusting and has no place in Canada or the Yukon.
Funny though, not a word from the opposition to the Premier regarding gun control in the wake of the tragedy a few weeks ago. I guess you gotta pander to the base huh?
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Stop the Saviourism and Deal With the Behaviourism! on Nov 9, 2021 at 4:32 pm
At Max Mac and Schmoe - Quit peddling victim narratives for the offending class. The people who come from adverse or traumatic backgrounds overwhelmingly do not commit offences against person or property because “they” know and have learned from the consequences of other’s behaviours towards them that such behaviours cannot be tolerated… They must be subject to civil and criminal censure.
Absolutely, this is a political issue and both parents and guardians of the offending miscreants are liable and should be subject to both civil and criminal sanctions. You can be certain that if you hurt my child I will be having a critical conversation with you in which you will be given a very consequential ultimatum.
You people and your excuse making. We need to have very real consequences for destructive and harmful behaviours and they need to happen immediately. This is the most mentally disturbed and the most cognitively delayed generation ever. We know this. We have studied this extensively and it is the real pandemic.
Quit teaching people that choices do not have consequences. This is the real problem! Children who commit harms must be punished commensurate to the level of injury that they have caused. It must be swift, sharp, and shocking.
Only then will they learn. You want to rescue something go adopt a dog.
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Max Mack on Nov 9, 2021 at 10:17 am
I am not entirely sure what to make of the politicization and sensationalizing of this situation (unruly kids). On the one hand, I understand the need for security, safety and harmony in the schools.
On the other hand, I understand the enormous challenges that some children face in the school system -- challenges that are not easily addressed by the disciplinary measures called out for by some advocates and commenters, challenges that the "problem" child cannot easily overcome.
There is a considerable push by some teachers' unions, activists, some journalists (including CBC), and workplace safety zealots, to enact harsh disciplinary measures involving use of armed security (e.g. police) and eventual suspension or eviction from school. In a significant number of cases, such harsh measures put the "offending" child into a more difficult situation, resulting in even worse outcomes for the child.
Obviously, these are difficult cases to resolve. Unfortunately, the schools are now implementing dramatic lockdowns which inevitably bring in the police. Such measures pretty much pre-determine the eventual outcomes of suspension, shunning and ostracization of the "problem" child.
Not every "problem" child is a gang-banger. Some are just children with serious and complex underlying issues. Such children need help, not armed police, politicization and public humiliation.
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schmoe on Nov 9, 2021 at 8:38 am
Seems y'all are a bunch of elitists living in the past. You think that in modern society the rules of old in schools should be brought back or something? You think that social inequity of some students is a Liberal issue?? Bunch of jokesters...I hope. We should be focused on the supports, which are obviously failing. We should stop bringing politics into every damn conversation about our children. You can't blame the Liberals for everything... this has been an issue under every party. Maybe if we tried NDP we'd get the change we all need.
If you don't believe in social equity for children, and for them to be given what they need to succeed, you are a coward.
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Parent of 3 on Nov 9, 2021 at 8:15 am
These behaviours aren’t new, and they certainly can’t be solved by blame.
To say this is this current government, or any governments problem is fundamentally wrong. Since I was a kid going to Jack Hulland 30 plus years ago these issues were occurring. And NO government has solved it. Possibly because it’s not an issue you can solve by policy. If there’s a mental, emotional, learning disability we have to equip teachers with the staff able to handle this in the classroom. More EA’s to assist so other don’t miss out.
If there no diagnosed issue and it's just a kid being disruptive… well sorry to say this falls on the parents. It’s not the governments or the schools job to raise your children.
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JC on Nov 8, 2021 at 2:27 pm
Bananasjoe
Yeah, private schools. Like in the US. Like don't exist up here. Nope not at all
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bonanzajoe on Nov 7, 2021 at 7:47 pm
Could we have a little more information on who is committing the most abuse? Or is that one of the "can nots in the racial handbook?
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bonanzajoe on Nov 7, 2021 at 7:44 pm
Time to set up private schools like they're doing in the US.
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NON Inclusive education on Nov 7, 2021 at 6:45 pm
A parent who does not wish to be identified…oh Whitehorse Star such juvenile journalism. You publish an article and don’t include names, facts, evidence….rather mere opinion from some anonymous ‘parent’ (who I might add also sounds oddly like someone who may ALSO be a teacher, either of whom are too chicken to stand behind their complaints).
But on another note, let’s face it: Inclusive education does not meet the needs of our youth, no matter which ‘end’ they fall on. Those struggling cannot keep up and face the embarrassment of that amongst their peers, and those ahead of the curve sit bored and waiting for those who desperately need extra support or attention.
Our education system in the Yukon is so damn broken. And it’s so obvious. Yet no one in any ‘authority’ position will admit it, or worse, genuinely do anything to address it.
Negligence. Politicized negligence.
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Neoliberalism is dangerously psychotic on Nov 7, 2021 at 4:03 pm
Well stated - John Franken is spot on--Alternative school (Junior ILC)!!! on Nov 7, 2021 at 10:23 am:
However, I disagree that it is not a Liberal problem. It absolutely is and for the reason that Liberalism has been a decades long movement pushing the boundaries of society to the licentiously, hedonistic brink it is currently teetering on…
Never have we been so divided as a community, a nation, and as members of a global community.
Our children learn what they see and their behaviours are both a reflection and a rejection of the world we have created for them. They see right through the ‘Schit’ that you feed them and continue to feed them and they know that nothing really matters because you tell them and you show them that it does not.
Neoliberalism is a plague and our children have been infected by it. The cure for this is boundaries, rules, expectations, enforcement, reinforcement, and moral courage. The Liberals of today have destroyed all those things and have made a mockery of civility, logic, and reason.
In Bosch’ version of The Ship of Fools there were passengers and there were crew. On Silver’s, and Trudeau’s, Ship of Fools the distinction is lost. Even if these two came to their senses however the ship has lost its rudder while the engine redlines into hazardous territory.
We have no deep thinkers anymore… Only the mercurial whimsies of a liberal psychoses.
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JC on Nov 7, 2021 at 1:01 pm
Moose101
Oh please, do enlighten us, oh bg brnd one. What is this obvious mystery?
Up 38 Down 2
John Franken is spot on--Alternative school (Junior ILC)!!! on Nov 7, 2021 at 10:23 am
Alternative school is right--and it's not just at elementary level. In high school, doesn't seem to matter what you do-it's only a 3 to 5 day suspension, whether you're vaping, dealing, beating somebody up, sexually harassing them..... The Education Act needs be updated to protect those kids who can function in a group learning environment; in the old days you would get the strap, or expelled. (I like expulsion--strap does no good but having the bad apples removed does). And much to the relief of everybody who had to put up with the misbehaved behaviour.
The students who are doing their jobs, learning, doing work, and playing with each other do NOT accept the 'wild, inconsiderate, dangerous, obnoxious' behaviours of these children/teens or their parents who advocate and throw legal challenges at DOE for 'their child's rights to education.' What about my child's right to be in an actual learning education environment? Why is my child less important than yours and your child is assigned a one on one EA because of their behaviour?
Meanwhile my child is in Math struggling while your child has their own personal 'EA therapist, babysitter, food provider, security guard' at the tune of $60,000 for the EA' salary. No picnic for them to be with the behaviour problem child all day long. An alternative school with one on one EA's and more teacher to student ratios is the only option. To continue the way it is now is ludicrous. Solution: Make Grove St School expand to encompass kids with severe behaviour problems, be a private location with more resourcing and get these kids away from other kids until they are a level of behaviour where they can function in classes of 25-30. And keep them there through high school because we don't want them at high school causing problems (like twelve grade 12 students beating a 14 year old to a pulp without any consequences).
And is it just a liberal problem? NO! Every government who has had the education porfolio has flubbed it up. Time to work together to change it. Bashing one party or the other doesn't change it for our kids-they still have to suffer in dysfunction while the gov dukes it out politically.
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yukonchris on Nov 7, 2021 at 9:13 am
Children want to feel that they are safe. This happens when adults exercise reasonable authority, defining and enforcing limits. When this happens, young people can start their school days knowing that destructive behaviours, which may pose a risk to them, and others, will be dealt with quickly, and diffused. This can’t happen when modern ideas about self esteem, self expression, and freedom, trump values such as personal responsibility, self control, and the consequences for actions.
When unrealistic feel-good philosophies become the norm, it puts students in charge, and more specifically, it risks putting bullies in charge. There is a difference between children and adults. The adults need to behave as such, it is not a child’s job.
As for pulling “difficult” children out of the classroom, and putting them in separate facilities, as has been suggested by some commentators, this is hardly a solution. The school is a microcosm of society. Getting rid of people you don’t want to deal with is no solution. Schools, like the broader world, need to develop the resources to control destructive behaviours, and help those angry, marginalized, and displaced people to realize what is the root of their bad behaviour, and repair it as best they can.
None of this can be achieved by pretending problems don’t exist, and smiling and being “nice.” It is important to confront bad behaviour directly, and honestly, invoking considered consequences, but also working to find ways forward.
Up 25 Down 3
Moose101 on Nov 7, 2021 at 6:26 am
Why isn’t the obvious stated about the Grove program and the problem that’s not being dealt with the Big Elephant in the room.
Up 23 Down 3
I had a feverish dream… on Nov 6, 2021 at 2:46 pm
Dear Martin - The same thing is done in YG offices. These are the parental class of the school children. There are behavioural parallels and behavioural matches.
I had once hoped that we could teach these children a better way by video taping their parents at work and showing them what they will become if they keep going oN the same path…
Perhaps it was a feverish dream?
Up 15 Down 67
Lex on Nov 6, 2021 at 12:33 pm
The USA has school shooting multiple times a week… and here in the Yukon students complain that they are traumatized from seeing a little blood?
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John Franken on Nov 6, 2021 at 12:18 pm
These violent kids should not be in regular school. It's completely unfair to the other kids and the teachers that are just trying to do their jobs.. Get them out of the regular schools and have some type of small alternate school that can provide more one on one services, outdoor education, therapy etc. With Covid changing the world our kind, gentle kids have gone through enough trauma. They are always the targets.
Up 46 Down 3
Skinner was right… Look at them rats go… Wearing out that feeder-bar… on Nov 6, 2021 at 11:54 am
This is absolutely bang-on and it is not just a Jack Hulland Elementary school issue.
What the government is doing in a lot of cases is protecting government workers, sometimes in high up positions, from learning about their little monsters and their behaviours and their deeds because it would point to the illegitimacy of their office.
One of the more egregious forms of mismanagement by HR can be seen in those questions that ask potential candidates how they would handle a situation involving an MLAs child. The emphatic answer should be: No Difference.
But this is not the reality.
These are not people that can be trusted or for that matter, should be trusted with our children. Politics should never be involved in the dailies of growing our children into self-determining and functional adults.
Up 36 Down 10
Sheepchaser on Nov 6, 2021 at 11:23 am
Parents would be better off organizing their own private school program than expecting the public programs to become a legitimate learning environment when it’s misused as a daytime daycare. There’s no failure in the public programs, therefore it’s very hard to call them a learning environment. Failure is innate to learning. Without clear and consistent standards to achieve or fail it’s impossible to ask children to navigate the endlessly complex rubric and matrix. Stuff it takes a double masters in psych and education to come up with. Kinda ludicrous. Public programs make even the gifted kids think they can slide through on minimal work and maximum excuses.
Go back to the basics. Keep it simple. Add a whole bunch of support for those who need it, but maintain the basic standards. Interview students and parents to ensure there’s a holistic attitude and support at home. A private school with just the minimum bar for civility and respect could be up and running next year.
Ask yourself honestly, where will the public system be in a year? Or five? Sounds elitist, but your kids only get one shot.
Up 68 Down 4
martin on Nov 5, 2021 at 10:30 pm
Over and over we hear from the teaching community about students that shouldn't be in the regular classroom environment; yet YG does not provide alternatives. Regular students are the ones suffering trying to learn with needless interruptions.
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Politico on Nov 5, 2021 at 9:17 pm
I thought medical issues were private? Not if there is political hay to be made I guess!
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Anonymous - on Nov 5, 2021 at 9:15 pm
I remember my days in elementary school well, or at least those few stand out individuals. It made me grow a bit of resentment towards them. One student felt that it was ok to start saying how was going to "blankity blank blank" the teacher's wife. The teacher felt that it was worthwhile to choke the student in front of the class.
Then there was that one student who needed to have a blue divider put up. Made for a great cohesive classroom when students who needed attention expelled their energy in unproductive ways.
Then there was the student who enjoyed smashing other people's projects. Couldn't do anything about it though because the student was "acting out."
All of that happened in one classroom during one year.
But now, what was the problem? If it came to sports or exciting stuff, suddenly these same students could play without breaking any rules. They were excellent. But when it came to doing things they didn't like. Nope, suddenly the rules didn't matter and we had to accept that they had a "learning" deficiency.
Multiple videos online show the difference a student shows when watching a video about math or a cartoon. Cartoon, dead still, no problem paying attention. Math, nope, no attention span and considered ADHD.
But any strict enforcement or "discipline" by teachers is frowned upon because it "hurts the child." Yet you're completely unaware of how much resentment people carry over those kids and sitting in class with them. Why did I have to follow the rules and do my best while it was a-ok for them to waste the entire classes time?
Keep pushing this Liberal B.S. and you'll continue the agenda. "Don't worry, if you can't follow the rules, we'll equalize the playing field." Those kids and their parents need to be brought in for meetings and dealt with.
If there are no parents or they are in foster homes, there needs to be investigations done. You're stunting the progress of good students by making them work in inhospitable environments. (This isn't new, it's been going on since the 90's)
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Tempest in a Teapot on Nov 5, 2021 at 9:09 pm
I was on primary school 30 years ago and this stuff was uncommon, but certainly not unheard of. Kids with neurological and emotional emotion issues are going to act out, other kids are going to see it.
I hate to say it, but it happens. And it's nothing new.
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Nathan Living on Nov 5, 2021 at 8:16 pm
School violence has been around forever.
It's the worst violence I have seen and my experience includes skid row in a few Canadian cities.
The answer I think is to not tolerate it and make punishment so severe that it's a deterrent.
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JC on Nov 5, 2021 at 6:29 pm
One parent confirms... what? That a kid had an outburst? I remember a kid freaking out and breaking property when I was in elementary. That kid is a lawyer now, and the world didn't degenerate into chaotic madness (well.... maybe ;P)
What does this testimony actually prove, and what is it purporting to prove? What purpose does this article serve? This article, which includes anonymous testimony, and written by an anonymous author.
I think this is nothing but chum in the water, and crafted to get the sharks frenzied. There is appalling behaviour from kids, and then there is this kind of appalling reporting. Which do you think is more insidious?