Online resources can give you the support and skills to take control of the situation

By Gabrielle Bauer

It doesn’t take much for a child to be singled out as a target of bullying. Combine a small point of difference — say, a weak baseball arm or indifferent fashion sense — with a vulnerable streak, and bullies are hot on the trail.

In the case of Justin Verlaine*, the “difference” was having been born and raised in France until age 10, when he began Grade 5 at a Toronto elementary school. “He wore black turtlenecks and crossed his legs,” recalls his mother, Liz Farrell*. “And it didn’t help that he wore his heart on his sleeve.”

It took only four days for the class bullies to sniff him out. “They would follow my son, singing a song that began with ‘Justin the homo,’” says Farrell. “As a parent, it was heartbreaking to watch.” She turned to the school for help, and in short order the bullies were expelled from the volleyball team. Unfortunately, that didn’t solve the problem. Warning Justin they would “never forgive him,” the bullies continued to torment him on the sly.

As Farrell discovered, schools are limited in their power to stop bullying. “I continue to hear from parents that their kids are being bullied, that the school is aware of it and that the problem is not being dealt with successfully,” says Dr. Sarah Shea, director of the child development clinic at IWK Health Centre in Halifax. “Schools are certainly more aware and proactive than they used to be, but there still isn’t enough being done.” Read more.

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