Canadians were shocked by what happened in La Loche a little over a week ago. Jeff Sallot writes that the kid with the gun had been picked on:
We’re not surprised to read that the 17-year-old boy accused of rampaging through the small town of La Loche last Friday — shooting 11 people, four of them fatally — had been bullied in school.
The bullies teased the boy relentlessly about his big ears, Jason Warick of Postmedia News tells us in a heartbreaking report from La Loche.
Three people who were inside the school when the teenager arrived with a gun claim the youth dared people to tease him about his ears. Witnesses report the youth passed by some people and fired at others — as if he knew his quarry, who he wanted dead.
Those of us who have spent our teaching careers in high schools have taught maybe a thousand kids like this kid. For him high school was hell. The truth is that, for most kids, high school is hell. Only a chosen few become president of the student's council. Most students dream of escaping -- and eventually they do.
But, what if you live in a community from which there is no escape?
People in La Loche have known for a long time that their children are at risk of falling into despair. Many are suicidal. Residents have been trying for years to establish a youth centre where young people might hang out doing kid stuff, under adult supervision. In such settings — a YMCA, an ice rink, a youth centre — a caring adult just might notice the quiet kid in the corner, take him aside and get him to open up.
Social workers, school nurses and psychologists know that merely having a sympathetic adult to listen can change the life of a troubled kid. But social workers, school nurses and psychologists are too scarce in remote First Nations’ communities. They’re found down south, in larger and more prosperous parts of the country.
This was the point Perry Bellegarde, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, tried to make when talking to reporters in La Loche on Sunday.
Justin Trudeau says his government will set course for a new relationship with Canada's First Nations. If he is to do that, he must give native communities real hope that their citizens can lead productive lives.
Because, in the absence of hope, those with nothing to lose turn to violence.
6 comments:
Sort of related from "Canada Land"
An excellent piece, thwap. It's never been about relocating First Nations people. After all, they were here before we arrived.
"The truth is that, for most kids, high school is hell"
No truer words were written Owen.
I think it can be a challenge even for those "well equipped" to deal with it.
If you have no "support system", it's obvious that things can quickly get very very tough.
We tend to forget, Anon, how difficult life is when you're a teenager.
When the shooting was reported and the shooter was a teenager, I was not surprised. I was only surprised it hadn't happened sooner. The Chief in Ontario had been having a meeting the previous day and the discussions included the high rate of teen suicide. IF kids don't see anything changing when their friends kill themselves, some will up the ante.
We need to make life better for all children of Canada. there is no reason every remote small town can't have an activities centre, for sports, hockey, a safe place to study and play or even sleep over if necessary. It is only our unwillingness to pay for it that prevents it.
We who voted for lower taxes contributed to this problem. there are some problems which can be solved with money because it costs money to provide good education, health services, housing, roads.
While for all the years Alberta was brining in foreign workers not one politician thought to build a road from the town to alberta, where all the jobs were.
There's a simple truth we're going to have to acknowledge, e.a.f. If we really want to have better lives for all our citizens, we're going to have to pay for them.
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