Let's tell them: This was assault and the perp should be prosecuted

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Following up on Wideyes suggestion, that folks should write to the school, the police, the crown attorney's office in Thunder bay about the case of the 7 year old child who was assaulted when a teacher's aide sheared his hair in class. I fully believe that the Crown Attorney should prosecute for assault, and that the police, the school and the school board who are all in the business of protecting children should be pushing the crown attorney's office to do so. I have updated my blog with addresses folks can write to if they are interested in encouraging the institutions involved (crown attorney, school board etc) to do the right thing.

Other folks may have differenct ideas of what actions/remedies need to be taken, and disagree with me about the assault issue. I’ve been following this story on other blogs (Dawg's blog, PP 2.0 - Dispatches by Northwestern Lad, The galloping Beaver, and It's all about potential to name a few. Good discussions BTW) and I've seen a number of people post ideas of what they’d like to see as remedies, the school board apologizing, sensitivty training etc. I think the main point is that we all agree this is unacceptable to happen to any child. Perhaps some letters can encourage them. Clearly encouragement is needed sicne they have done little over the past month since the incident occurred.


Here are some e-mail/snail-mail addresses to encourage these agencies to do the right thing. Update: Check the comments where folks are pitching in to add more contact info.

Lakehead Public School Board comment form: http://www.lakeheadschools.ca/suggestion.aspx

Director
Gordon Fillmore (Crown Attorney Rep)
Crown Attorney's Office
1805 E. Arthur Street
Thunder Bay, Ontario
P7E 2R6
Fax: 625-1618

Chris Adams
Thunder Bay Police Service
1200 Balmoral Street
Thunder Bay, ON
P7B 5Z5


McKellar Park Central Public School
Principal: Michelle Probizanski
Vice Principal: Melanie Mussellam (Acting)
301 N. Archibald Street
Thunder Bay, Ontario
P7C 3Y3

Fax: 807-623-1586



Mayor Lynn Peterson
2nd Floor, City Hall
500 Donald Street E
P.O. Box 800
Thunder Bay, ON,
P7C 5K4

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WTF?

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This story is horrifying to any parent. How dare a school touch a child's hair? It's worse when you consider the child is First Nations and was growing his hair to participate in grass dancing as part of his spiritual/cultural tradition. It's the equivalent of tearing a cross off a Cathlolic child. Worse still the way it inevitably reminds us all of residential school. I think we all want answers on this one.


Mom wants answers after teacher's aide chops off son's hair
Last Updated: Thursday, May 21, 2009 4:02 PM CT
CBC News
A Thunder Bay woman is demanding an explanation after a teacher's aide at her son's school cut his long hair — an action her lawyer says is clearly assault while the Crown insists there are no grounds for charges.
CBC News is not naming the family to protect the child's identity.
The seven-year-old boy had chin-length hair before the incident last month. His mother said staff at McKellar Park Central Public School were aware her son was letting his hair grow so that he could take part in traditional First Nations dancing.
The mother told CBC News she was stunned when her son told her it was a teacher's assistant who lopped off 10 centimetres of his hair.
"I said, 'Why did she do this? Did she say anything?'" said the mother. "And he said, 'No, and after she cut my hair, she took me by the shoulders and forced me to stand in front of the mirror. She made me stand there and said look at you now.'"
Lawyer Julian Falconer is representing the family.
"We have a classic example of the vulnerabilities of a seven-year-old being taken advantage [of] by someone with a pair of scissors who lifted that child on a stool and proceeded to violate the child," Falconer said. "The question becomes how could the police and the Crown attorney's office turn a blind eye to this?"
Thunder Bay police took head shots of the child as part of their investigation of the incident and also interviewed the school principal, the teacher's assistant involved and the mother and boy, said police spokesman Chris Adams.
"The Crown got back to us and indicated that there were no grounds for criminal charges, and it wasn't in the public interest according to the Crown," he said.
A spokesperson for Lakehead Public School Board confirmed the "unfortunate incident" took place but declined to comment further.
The teaching assistant has been suspended, but the mother said that does not go far enough.

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