'What we predicted 10 years ago is happening now in our school system': Hoskins

It was a decade ago when the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of School Councils presented ideas to improve school security measures and violence prevention strategies.

Those ideas were met with ridicule and jokes at the time, according to Ruby Hoskins, past president of the federation, adding some of the participants didn't believe there was any worries of violence in local schools.

"Here we are 10 years later, what we predicted 10 years ago is happening now in our school system," Hoskins told CBC Radio's On The Go.

Hoskins said with the advance of social media they're seeing more violent incidents documented by participants and bystanders, instead of incidents going unknown and unreported.

"I think it's not as isolated as people would like to think," she said of the recent violent incident that included students being hit by bear spray at Prince of Wales Collegiate.

According to Hoskins, the federation is still lobbying for changes in schools a decade later, saying there's a need for more guidance counselors, psychologists and a pilot project to bring social workers to satellite offices and not just at the head office in St. John's.

"We're placing that responsibility directly on administrations in schools, and they cannot continue to function appropriately and properly without the resources and the personnel put in place to help promote the use of security measures and violence prevention strategies in our schools," she said.

Resources in demand

The federation receives calls every day from parents wondering how they can deal with bullying in schools, according to Hoskins.

"We talk about bullying and we focus on it like one day of the year in our school system, but the 364 days that remain are the ones that we're concerned about," she said.

"We encourage to have that discussion at home, but the family unit has certainly changed in the last few years."

Hoskins added that parents have a very important role to play in talking about the issue with their children, but they also have an important role to play in encouraging and supporting schools on developing and enhancing protocols against violence and bullying.

Pilot projects

There are pilot projects in schools around the province that work toward identifying issues in the schools. According to Hoskins, they have seen great success, but she remains frustrated.

"These are only pilot projects, and I don't understand why the Department of Education and government are not allocating more resources towards these programs," she said.

"They are very successful in helping kids that may be bullying, may be facing issues outside of the school that they can't get the resources or the supports that they need to … cope."

With files from On The Go

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