Enough is enough

Editor’s Note: some of the details in this story may be disturbing to readers

Isabella Graham has had enough of what she says is an ongoing culture of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment at her school.

The 11th grade New Westminster Secondary School (NWSS) student says she and other survivors are taking further steps to hold people accountable through an initiative called S.E.A.S. New West; S.E.A.S. stands for safety, education, advocacy and support.

Survivors have been sharing Instagram posts about their experiences. One story includes a student being sexually assaulted at the school after getting pinned to a wall. “I notified the school and they did nothing, even when there was proof through our cameras outside Massey,” it reads.

Graham and others led a rally on Friday, May 13th, in which they walked from NWSS to the school board office, shared their stories, and chanted demands for change.

“I started getting sexualized in middle school,” Graham explains, “It’s been really hard, especially walking through the halls.” She remembers experiences dating back to sixth grade and says that adults never seemed to take the claims seriously.

“We’ve been going to school administration, with cases, with incidents,” she says. “What I’ve seen with victims of sexual assault in the way our police department has handled it, they’ve done absolutely nothing. Our liaison officer was here. They were not helping. I know there were concerns about bringing one back, but I’ve talked to people in the school, and they’ve been pretty against it.” (NWSS no longer has a liaison officer, and the relationship between the school and police has since changed.)

Graham says approaches must come from a restorative point of view.

“We’ve talked about having a bigger diversity in counsellors because we have a big population of kids of colour who don’t feel safe.” Graham, who is Black, says there are also language barriers that need to be addressed. “Exchange students don’t have a proper support system here, so it’s much easier for abusers to take advantage of them.”

“We take this seriously”

New West Anchor has been told by the New West Police Department (NWPD) its Victim Assistance Unit is supporting young people who have come forward.

“We have a Specialized Investigations Unit which investigates these kinds of files with a community counselor that provides ongoing support to victims.” Sgt. Sanjay Kumar says in a statement. Front line members have received Trauma Informed Practice Training, though the NWPD welcomes any kind of other feedback. “We’re here to listen and learn.”

For the school board’s part, chair Gurveen Dhaliwal says it believes the students, and that it fully supports the changes students are looking for.

“When it comes to how they feel adults are hearing them are not, my response to this is it’s a really complex issue, and it’s about changing the culture, shifting the toxic masculinity that we’re seeing in society,” notes Dhaliwal, saying that this is not limited to NWSS. “It is a lot of work to really [make change] in a meaningful way.”

She says the issue was brought forward to school district staff a year ago, and that they’ve been working alongside students to address immediate concerns. Dhaliwal says they’re using on-the-ground initiatives – hosting workshops about health relationships, for instance – along with the discussion of changes to board policy procedures.

When asked about how to ensure students currently attending school are able to feel safe, Dhaliwal again cited complexity. “I think it’s hard to answer that question in a black-and-white sort of, ‘okay, here is tangibly what’s going to happen to make it safe for all students.’ I think it’s engaging with the student body on initiatives that we can control and support.” Dhaliwal says she agrees with Graham on the topic of policing, saying the situation is one that cannot be policed out of.

“Where there are crimes, staff will still contact police, but where we’re able to support education around this, that’s where we’re focusing our attention on, on the cultural shift that’s needed.”

“Our associate superintendent met with the group last week, and had a good conversation about what next steps look like.” Dhaliwal says those details will be shared at an in-person meeting on June 7 at NWSS.

Province of B.C. also looking at options

B.C.’s education minister Jennifer Whiteside says her office has been in touch with New West’s school board staff, and she’d also like to speak to the students. As for whether this is a New West-only situation, Whiteside says it’s something students across the province are becoming more vocal about.

“There has been a bit of a surfacing I’d say in the last few months in particular, at a number of different communities and schools across the province.”

Whiteside, who is also the MLA for New Westminster, says at the provincial level, she’s hoping to implement some of the strategies the parliamentary secretary for gender equity, Grace Lore, is working on.

“We have a project right now underway between the Ministry of Education and the gender equity office to update the learning resources that speak to healthy sexual relationships, how to engage in healthy sexual relationships in an age-appropriate way, right from the young years,” explains Whiteside. It’s expected there will be changes to curriculum down the line that impact all grades, from K to 12.

“Rightfully, [these students] are looking to hold our feet to the fire on these issues that are about the experiences that they have at school. I’ve reached out; I want to hear directly from them around their experiences.”

For Graham, she wants the adults in the lives of these students to know that this is happening.

“[For parents and guardians], it’s really time that you listen to your kids, because at the end of the day, they’re probably showing signs of abuse at school. People think teenagers are hormonal, but when your kids are crying every day and missing out on their grades, there’s obviously something up.”