Cyberbullying Task Force Completes Youth Focus Groups, Holds Public Meeting

Students from every region of the province have played a crucial role in helping the Minister's Task Force on Cyberbullying. Now the task force wants to hear from the public.

The task force completed its youth focus groups tour by visiting at least three classes in each of the province's eight school boards in September and October. A total of about 1,000 upper elementary, junior high and high school students took part in 35 sessions.

The next Cyberbullying Task Force meeting will be open to the public on Friday, Oct. 21, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Citadel High School Auditorium, Spatz Theatre in Halifax. The morning will feature presentations from the Human Rights Commission, The Truro Police Cyber Robot, and a Restorative Approaches Youth Panel from Yarmouth. At 1:30 p.m., the task force will lead a discussion with youth.

"It is extremely important to hear from students if we want to find solutions to the problem of cyberbullying," said Education Minister Ramona Jennex. "The focus groups and public meeting are excellent examples of how staff from different departments work together with youth to tackle a serious problem for families and communities."

The information from the focus groups and public meeting will be compiled for the task force to complete the report to the Minister of Education in December.

"The more we learn about bullying and cyberbullying, the more apparent it becomes that it is a very complex and serious issue," said Wayne Mackay, Cyberbullying Task Force chair. "The information gathered from the youth focus groups and meeting will be a valuable addition to the online survey data and the knowledge gained from leading experts on bullying."

The focus groups were facilitated by Mat Whynott, Cyberbullying Task Force member and ministerial assistant responsible for youth, Noreen Stadie, Department of Justice, Morris Green, Department of Health and Wellness and Glenn Friel, Department of Education. Youth also had a role in creating and facilitating the focus groups. Cyberbullying Task Force and Working Group members Breanna Fitzgerald and Aaron Stevens had input into designing the focus groups, and four youth assisted with some of the sessions.

"It was obvious to me that youth care very deeply about finding solutions for the problem of cyberbullying," said Mr. Whynott. "The level of participation was astounding, and there was definitely a lot of enthusiasm from students at every level to help us during the sessions."

The focus groups and public meeting were designed to examine the scope of the problems of bullying and cyberbullying, assess the existing responses to the problems, learn more about the reasons and consequences of bullying and cyberbullying and to discover what students think schools and communities, law enforcement, parents and families, and youth could do to help with the problem.

Citadel High School Auditorium is at 1855 Trollope St. Visitors are asked to use the Trollope Street doors only and there is no parking onsite.

For more information, visit cyberbullying.novascotia.ca .