Students at Massey-Vanier English High School in Cowansville say they are the repeated target of sexual violence by a boy from their school. The young girls have filed a complaint with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and denounce what they describe as the school’s inaction. The Eastern Townships School Board, for its part, says it is taking action.
The duty here granted anonymity to certain participants in order to protect the identity of minors involved in the case.
“I was in elementary school when it started, and then it continued,” said Taylor (not her real name), a 15-year-old second-grade student. With other students, parents, two deputies and members of the collective The voice of young people counts, she presented herself in front of the school Monday noon to demonstrate. “We want everyone to know what’s going on at Massey-Vanier, and that the school administration does nothing,” she says. “The school spoke to the student to tell him to stop, but he did not change his behavior, she drops. We felt that the management believed the student, but not us. »
Like other young girls at school, she filed a complaint with the SQ last Monday. “It was getting worse, and getting worse,” she said. We told him to stay away from us, but he kept coming and trying to touch us. »
Kathy (fictitious name), 14, also went to the SQ station. She first complained to the school last year when she was in secondary one. There were meetings with the boy, and an apology was issued. But the bond of trust is now broken. “I felt that the police listened to me more than the school,” she said. Duty. His voice breaks. “It’s really trying. Every morning when I go to school, I wonder what will happen to me. I’m afraid to go there. »
The school administration declined to speak to the media.
Michael Murray, chairman of the Eastern Townships School Board, insists that “just because you can’t see what’s going on, doesn’t mean there’s nothing going on”. “The implication that we haven’t done anything is false,” he said, not wanting to go into too much detail, but making it clear that a protocol exists in cases of bullying and sexual assault. Here, follow-ups were made upon receipt of complaints, he argues. “We are constrained by the need to protect the identity of those involved,” he said. We act, but we act under an obligation to protect everyone. »
Mr. Murray adds that the establishment cooperates with the police. He hopes that following the investigation, these will shed light on “the real facts, as opposed to what could be exaggerations and inaccurate statements”.
Like many, Ruba Ghazal, Solidarity MP for Mercier, and Méganne Perry Mélançon, national spokesperson for the Parti Québécois, are calling for a framework law to prevent sexual violence in schools and fight against it, as is the case for higher education institutions. “It takes human protocols, adapted and standardized in all schools. It cannot only be the responsibility of school administrators, ”underlines Mme Perry Melancon. For its part, Québec solidaire intends to introduce a new bill on the subject and hopes that the CAQ will rally behind it.
Their presence in front of the school, however, did not please the chairman of the Eastern Townships School Board. “It’s deplorable that MPs choose to take advantage of student anxiety to advance their political agenda,” said Murray.
Concerned parents
The school’s actions do not convince many parents. Kathleen (not her real name), the mother of one of the boy’s alleged victims, says her daughter alerted a principal and others within the school, but no action was taken.
The implication that we did nothing is false. We are constrained by the need to protect the identity of those involved. We act, but we act under an obligation to protect everyone.
Realizing that other students had been victims of sexual gestures from the same person, she created a group text message with other mothers to keep in touch. “If something happened, a danger, the girls would text about it and the mothers could see the messages,” she explains.
Her daughter has after-effects, she adds. “She can’t talk about it anymore. It stresses her too much. When we talk about it, she changes rooms,” says Kathleen.
For her part, Natacha (fictitious name) says she believes her daughter Kathy and does everything to support her. “I know she’s not the kind of girl to make up a story like that for no reason. I knew something was up because she was crying, she was having nightmares. I suspected something, and she finally confided. And I said to myself: enough is enough. »