Bullying and threats of violence have kept an 11-year-old Sarnia girl from attending school for nearly two months now, according to the girl's mother.
Briar Christensen said she's had to pull her daughter Rayna out of London Road Public School three separate times this year because of the actions of a male student.
Christensen said her child received death threats on the first day of school.
"So I pulled her out of school and a safety plan was supposed to be developed. She returned to school and then at the end of September, the boy showed up on a day that he wasn't supposed to be at school, stood at the fence and started throwing rocks and sticks at everyone. [My daughter] then went up to the teacher who was on her safety plan, and the teacher looked at her and said 'who are you?'"
Christensen said she then pulled Rayna out of school for about a week-and-a-half, but the problems persisted when she returned. Rayna was taken out of school again on October 22 and she hasn't returned since.
Christensen said she has gone as high as the Ontario Ombudsman and has still gotten absolutely nowhere.
"Nothing has been done. The school's grand plan is to send her back to school under the same safety plan. They did say that they would hire another yard supervisor, but they couldn't give a timeline," she said. "I got a lawyer and she said 'I've taken this as far as I can, short of a lawsuit,' which is going to take lots of money and lots of time and my kids would be graduated high school by the time it goes through, so it's not going to get anywhere."
Christensen, alongside Rayna and her son Ashton, have been protesting outside the Sarnia school this month. On Monday, they brought their demonstration to the Lambton Kent District School Board (LKDSB) Sarnia Education Centre on Wellington Street -- Briar's husband Ken was also in attendance. Christensen told Sarnia News Today what she's fighting for.
"Number one, there needs to be increased supervision in schools. I think policy needs to change -- there is absolutely no reason that my kids should be out of school while a safety plan is developed. Why is the aggressor not out of school?"
Christensen also expressed how bullying and threats of violence are not something we should be normalizing.
"So when we're excusing this kind of behaviour and the threats and the obsession as just being a crush or normal like 'boys will be boys' type mentality -- I think the mentality also really needs to change."
Christensen said other parents from London Road Public School have expressed similar concerns around bullying.
LKDSB Public Relations Officer Heather Hughes said in an email that the school board takes reports of bullying seriously and investigates accordingly, as all students have a right to feel safe in their school and on board property.
"If parents/guardians have specific concerns about their child, we encourage them to speak with their child's school to follow-up," read the statement. "To report bullying, students are encouraged to share information with a caring adult at home or at school. Parents/guardians and students are also able to share concerns using the Student Wellness and Bullying Intervention Hotline at each school."
Hughes said the board continues to focus on lessons throughout the year to increase awareness and understanding of the different forms of bullying and reminders about prevention strategies and reporting.
Hughes said for the protection of student privacy, specific information about individual students and circumstances cannot be provided.