For the first time ever Innisfail resident Pat Coupland strongly believes it is time to put an end to bullying, an issue that has been at the forefront of the community for the last six weeks.
“I couldn't do nothing, that's the bottom line,” she said. “I just couldn't do nothing, and I've had situations in my life and in my families lives. I've been dealing with this for over 20 years and in my professional life, but when I saw this young man's picture in the paper and read what he went through, I just went, ‘I've got to do something.'”
Coupland urged her peers, along with several members from Community Partners, to crack down on violent confrontations in town at the regular meeting at the Innisfail Municipal Library on Oct. 15. She argued to support victims like 14-year-old Aidan Remple, a local teen who recently survived an attack from a gang of teens at Raspberry Park on Aug. 25, by rewarding leaders who speak out against bullying at her first public meeting with the group.
The nurse, who works with special needs to children, said it's important for the community to think about creating a solution to bullying. Coupland said it's important to create a unique way to acknowledge each child who is being victimized.
Coupland suggested rewarding children who stand up against bullying with an orange and black clothing to represent a shining beacon of hope for victims. She wanted to identify people who can act in “heroic” roles and prevent bullying with a symbolic reference.
In fact, Coupland was conducting research to find out whether it's possible to use a logo that encourages teens to stand up against bullying.
“The reason I picked orange was because in the article, the young man said that orange was his colour and I want to acknowledge the fact that he stood up against something that was pretty severe,” she said. “But I don't want this to be for just anybody walking around and wearing it. I want it to be a source that really means something.”
In addition, Coupland has designed band-aids with anti-bullying slogans printed across them and would like to produce merchandise to raise money for an initiative that raises awareness about bullying.
“If a child is in a playground or outdoors, they know they can go to that person and it's like a light that says, ‘I'll look after you,'” she concluded. “I don't know where this is going yet, but I figured I'd toss the idea out to you. I wanted this to mean something to the young man who got hurt and I want it to mean something to the person that got hurt.”
Innisfail's Big Brothers and Big Sisters executive director Tim Howard sympathized with Coupland, but he voiced concerns about representing these visions across the community to several others who attended the meeting. He suggested the group could use ideas like this to frame a foundation once the group could scale back their goals and reach an agreement about what it could achieve through this unique partnership with leaders from the business community.
“The potential is there for a whole bunch of agencies to be taking a whole bunch of diversions and approaches to bullies as opposed to a coordinated strategy in the community,” said Howard. “So, my question is, in terms of strategy, I'm putting together, ‘Who is it for?' And ‘Who puts the blessing on it?' We don't have the authority to do that.”
As a result of the discussion, the Town of Innisfail's family and community support services manager Tammy Oliver-McCurdie made a proposal to her peers at the monthly family violence and bullying meeting to review the information and ultimately come up with a proposal to put their plans into action by branding bullying, researching municipal bullying strategies and creating concurrent planning for an education component.
In addition, Oliver-McCurdie suggested naming the group, designing a vision and building a solution — an idea that received unanimous support from people who attended the meeting.
She suggested sending a letter to council about creating a bullying awareness week during Nov. 17-23, which would tie into Alberta's annual family violence prevention month.
“Family Violence Prevention Month has been named for the month of November for quite a long time,” Oliver-McCurdie explained. “But since bullying has become such a big problem, it's almost become its own issue which requires its own targets and strategies.”
Oliver-McCurdie told the group it's time to make a recommendation to the Town of Innisfail to declare Nov. 17-23 as the national bullying awareness week.
“There are many people in the community of Innisfail who have lived with or are living with bullying,” she explained. “Bullying is a learned behaviour from a bigger environment than just a school yard. Bullying is not confined to children only and individuals have the power to prevent bullying.”
The committee ultimately agreed to research the strategy and design a plan that would allow town councillors to encourage this initiative with a town bylaw. Oliver-McCurdie added bullying is an offensive that can be charged and a fine would force parents to be accountable for their childrens' actions. She was optimistic the group could move forward with plans for a community strategy to raise awareness about bullying with preventative measures.
“We need to work on things we can mobilize within the community,” said Oliver-McCurdie, adding the committee would need to be responsible for putting a plan into action if council considered adopting a proposal of some kind.
For more information, call Oliver-McCurdie at 403-227-7744 ext. 33.
