Breaking Update!!

The victim stays in school. The abusers are out!


Thank you so much to everyone who supported this cause by leaving comments, writing letters and making phone calls to the principal, contacting the board, and passing on the link to this site. And thank you to the media outlets that looked into this story. Details into this decision are unavailable, but our collective voice against violence in the school must have played a key role.

Thanks also to Mr. Singfield for somehow making this situation right. You have one heck of a hard job as principal, and our outrage was directed to a bad decision and seeming inaction in this one particular situation. This in no way reflects a broader feeling of parental concern regarding your role as principal. You are very involved with the kids, and you and your staff work hard every day to make the school a better place.

This decision sends a clear message to students that violence will not be tolerated, and this is a good thing. Thank you Mr. Singfield.

Please feel free to pass on any information about school activities that promote an anti-bullying message, and please let the parents know how they can be involved.

Violence at Symmes

September 25th UPDATE at bottom of post

Open letter to George Singfield, Principal of Symmes Junior High School located at 701 Blvd. du Plateau, Gatineau


On Friday, September 10th, 2010, an incident occurred on school grounds. Two Grade eight boys physically assaulted a third boy in front of several witnesses while under the care and protection of the school. It is common knowledge among the students that the two boys responsible have a history of previous violent incidents.

This assault resulted in severe injury, as seen by the photos below (posted with parental permission).

**** Pictures taken down as situation has been resolved ****

This level of violence, as seen in the photographs, is shocking and clearly far exceeds typical rough-housing or schoolyard bullying. The school's response was to suspend the attackers for five days. They will soon return to school, and the victim will be forced to see and interact with them on a daily basis, both on school grounds and on the bus. The stress on both the victim and his family is so great that they are forced to consider removing him from school.

The damage caused by bullying at school is well documented and can have severe long term effects on the victims that can last into adulthood. And with recent news coverage of school bullying victims like Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide to escape the torment of her attackers, it is more apparent than ever that schools need to be pro-active and ensure a safe learning environment for all.

With this in mind, we ask Mr Singfield the following:

1) How do you intend to ensure adequate supervision of school grounds to prevent future assaults on the victim or any other student?

2) How do you justify allowing the attackers to return to school when the level of violence was so severe?

3) How severe does the violence need to be before a student is expelled?

4) How are the victim's rights being respected when he is forced to interact with his abusers on a daily basis?

We, the undersigned, (consisting of parents of Symmes students, friends, and concerned citizens), are outraged at this violent incident, and concerned for the well being of the victim and other students. We respectfully ask for answers to the above questions.

(September 21st, update: Some people were having difficulty leaving comments, so permission settings have now been opened to everyone and not just registered users.)

September 25th UPDATE:

The victim's mother confirms that the two boys in question are back in the general school population and that her son lives with the possibility of running into them at any time.

She also reports that on Friday September 24th, a boy went up to the victim and told him that the two boys in question would come back after him again if they see him in ***** (the neighbourhood). This was reported to Mr. Singfield.

She has also stated that she would be willing to discuss this matter with the media. If you wish to contact her, please email the site and you will be put in touch with her.

Additionally, it has been suggested that the names and/or the pictures of the abusers be posted on this page. This will not be done as they are minors, and doing so risks having this page removed. Getting the message out is more important.

Thank you, and please continue to show your support by sharing the link, commenting, or contacting the school directly. Let's not stop until every parent who has a child at Symmes, D'arcy, and all of the elementary feeder schools are made aware of this situation.