Moncton Forum

2006/12/13

Student arrested after firearm report at school
December 13, 2006

BRISTOL - Students and staff at Carleton North High School had a scare Tuesday morning as police arrested a student suspected of bringing a concealed weapon to school.

RCMP spokesman Terry Lee Kennedy said the school's principal, Paul Roy, alerted local police that a 17-year-old boy had come to school with a firearm.

"He was arrested and it turned out to be either a cap gun or a starter pistol," said Kennedy. "Now (investigators) just have to decide whether there (will be) charges (laid) or what's the best treatment for this person."

Kennedy said he could not reveal how school officials became aware of the problem.

"It's not believed any threats were made, but how they got the information is part of the investigation," he said.

In a release, District 14 superintendent Lisa Gallagher said the school's administration received a report in the morning and "responded very quickly.

"School and district crisis response teams have been activated and will be providing support to students and teachers who may have been traumatized by the morning's events," said Gallagher.

A mother of a Grade 12 student at the school said Tuesday afternoon that she had received news of the incident in a voice-mail message.

"We got the message something happened but everything's going smooth," said the mother, who asked not to be named. "Something happened with a weapon but everything is going really good. Within 20 minutes the RCMP came and took whoever did it. Nothing happened in the school."

The mother said her daughter remained in school for the day and that she had spoken with her by phone.

"She's a little upset and said it was a little scary. But everything is good. Everybody handled it really good, the teachers and the RCMP. She's happy about that and we are happy about that."

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Tuesday's incident is the third one to occur at the school over the last three years.

One year ago on Dec. 12, the school was locked down after RCMP received a telephone call from a student's father advising them that his son was in possession of a weapon and had taken the family ATV. He was arrested and charged with multiple offences.

On April 22, 2003, shots were reportedly fired on school property. The school immediately locked down its almost 700 students as RCMP scoured the area for suspects and retrieved a .22-calibre handgun. Two teens were arrested and charged.

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Nova Scotia

The Halifax Daily News
 
Rise in school violence

Unions demand gov't crackdown to protect public employees

HEALTH - Kathy Smith was eight months pregnant when a student in her Lockview High School class shoved her.

The Grade 9 math teacher was trying to keep two groups of students separated when she was sent spinning.

"(One of the students) pushed past me, spun me around and then grabbed the girl and threw her across the desk.

"I could've fallen down. The very fact to even be pushed, I couldn't believe, much less in the condition I was in and obviously showing. I'm only five-foot-one."

The student who pushed Smith was suspended. No one was injured.

Incidents like this have the four public-sector unions lobbying the government for workplace-violence legislation.

About half of public employees in the province were victims of intimidation, threats or other forms of violence on the job in the past two years, according to a Vector poll for the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, Nova Scotia Nurses' Union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Growing concern

Mary-Lou Donnelly, president of the teachers' union, said workplace violence is a growing concern.

"It is, indeed, becoming more prevalent," she said. "There was a time when they weren't nearly as prevalent, because the teacher was someone who was held in very high esteem ... within the community. Over quite a number of years, that has somehow broken down."

Of the four unions, teachers were the most likely to experience violence at work, said the poll:

- More than half of all teachers experienced intimidation at work.

- 39 per cent experienced verbal threats, ridicule or harassment.

- 28 cent encountered bullying or unwelcome teasing.

- About 12 per cent experienced physical assault and 18 teachers had intentional property damage.

Draft regulations, developed jointly by labour and management representatives, have sat on a shelf for more than a decade. The unions, which formed the Coalition Against Workplace Violence, are urging the government to adopt them by the end of the month.

Joan Jessome, president of the NSGEU, said either adopting the regulations or amending the Occupational Health and Safety Act to include them would deter incidents of workplace violence, sending fewer people on stress leave.

"They were needed 11 years ago," she said."They're needed 1,000 times more now."

The Environment and Labour Department is developing a strategy to address workplace violence.

It may include regulations and other measures, said spokeswoman Jacqueline May. The proposed regulations are being considered as part of an overall strategy, she added.

May said the Occupational Health and Safety Act already imposes a legal responsibility to protect workers from workplace hazards, including violence.

The coalition says the act is too general and should define steps for employers.

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