Edmonton teacher harassed, cyberbullied by teen student, human rights hearing told

We're learning to treat bullying as a serious problem, especially when it involves kids tormenting each other at school and in cyberspace.

But apparently if you're an adult being bullied by a young person, you're just supposed to suck it up.

That's the implication I draw from the case of Vienna Malko-Monterrosa, an Edmonton teacher who found herself on the receiving end of a bizarre campaign by one of her students.

An Alberta Human Rights Commission hearing was scheduled to wrap up Wednesday into a complaint by Malko-Monterrosa, who taught at a francophone Catholic school in the Alberta capital, the Edmonton Journal reports.

The teacher filed a discrimination complaint against the Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord, the school board that oversees Ecole Maurice-Lavallee, alleging she endured two and a half years of harassment from the female Grade-eight student starting in 2007, the Journal said.

[ Related: Cyberbullying on the rise at Canadian universities, studies show ]

Malko-Monterrosa, who is no longer on staff at the school, was subjected to profane email messages, Facebook posts and threatening notes, according to evidence presented at the hearing. The student apparently became obsessed with her teacher.

"You can't run away from me," said one message, according to the Journal.

"What's up sexy mama, let's have sex," said another presented at the hearing.

CBC News reported the student also made prank phone calls to the teacher's home.

The teacher also received a letter in 2009 in which the student called her an "illegal immigrant," a "slut," a "bully," and "a piece of Mexican s--t," the Journal said.

Malko-Monterrosa is of Mexican heritage but born and raised in Edmonton.

The harassment included a false accusation of sexual assault.

Yet despite all of this, the school denied Malko-Monterrosa's request that the student be removed from her classroom, the Journal said.

"It was unbearable," Malko-Monterossa said, according to CBC News. "There were times I felt it was too difficult to go to school and keep myself composed in front of the students."

The student was eventually expelled, though allowed to attend another Edmonton school operated by the board. But apparently that didn't stop the harassment, even though the student at one point wrote a letter of apology to Malko-Monterrosa, the Journal said.

"After all you did for me, I had to go out and do things to you, I feel so stupid, I'm sorry," the letter said.

Malko-Monterrosa said the school board did not do enough to protect her.

[ Related: Vancouver teacher sued for alleged bullying of student 20 years ago ]

"I'm hoping that this will open the eyes to other teachers, other members of the community . . . about the seriousness of cyberbullying," Malko-Monterrosa said, according to CBC News.

Interestingly, Malko-Monterrosa seems well equipped to cope with a physical attack. She's apparently an expert Thai-style kick boxer with a string of victories in the ring. The Edmonton gym she trains at, Frank Lee's, posted a 2012 Anita Athavale music video featuring Malko-Monterrosa sparring with another boxer.

But it appears there's not much defence against the psychological torment of a teenage bully if people you count on, like your employer, don't have your back.