Our Story
The main purpose of telling
our story is to reveal how government officials deal with bullying in Manitoba. If you listen
to what the government says and what is written on the various Manitoba government web
sites, you would think that everyone has a good grasp on the bully issue and
that it is being dealt with properly. For years, I have been
dealing with the issue of bullying and have contacted many government officials. From municipal councilors to the RCMP
to Manitoba Child and Family Services, all were contacted and asked for help. What was
truly shocking was the lack of knowledge and consistency. No one seemed to
know what to do, no one knew how to react, no one knew who to contact, no one
even really could agree on what bullying was. Some actually thought you could
watch bullying, others thought that attacks had to be physical to be bullying
and more even gave us their idea of what it is and what it isn’t with no
consistency. Even just mentioning the word bully or describing bullying made
those in authority squirm. Once I would start telling about the events we were
dealing with, everyone would run. No one wanted to hear it, everyone wanted me
to leave and talk to someone else. When it comes to dealing with the bully
issue, Manitoba
is in the Stone Age. Our government is a collection of disconnected and
dysfunctional departments and levels that make it very easy for bullies to
thrive and take advantage of the lack of proper law enforcement.
While the official government
line may be to deny this, once you read our story and the copies of letters
received from the government it will become obvious what our government really
believes and how they really react. When reading the copies of letters received
from the government, there is one very important fact to remember. There are
children involved. Children that deserve to be heard, respected, treated fairly
and feel safe.
After reading the government
letters ask these questions.
Do they treat the children
involved properly and fairly and do they send the right message?
Do they respect the rights of
every child or do they care only about the majority?
Do they honor the rights as
outlined in the section “know your rights”?
Do any of them say they are
concerned and will follow up if a solution wasn’t found?
Do they ensure that the
rulings made will NOT reduce the safety and quality of life of a child?
Note: In order to protect the identities of the bullies, the pictures presented
have been deliberately blurred
