Bullying workshop held at DFC

Working together as a team and other leadership skills were the focus Jan. 26-27 for a group of Dennis Franklin Cromarty First Nations High School students.
“It was pretty awesome,” said Marsha Kennedy, a Grade 11 student from Sandy Lake. “I learned how to prevent bullying and learned that bullying behavior from the ages of 12 and older is actually harassment and you can be charged for it. There are ways to stop it.”
Kennedy said the RespectED Beyond the Hurt anti-violence, anti-abuse education workshop gave her the knowledge to recognize bullying and stop it in her community.
“I’m not a quiet person — I’ll be able to say ‘ hey, stop that,’” Kennedy said. “I want people to respect each other and just be OK with each other. I don’t want people to discriminate just because of the way they look or how they act or who they are.”
Kennedy and six other Grade 10 and 11 students took part in the workshop, which provided them with the knowledge, confidence and skills to deliver bullying and harassment presentations to their peers.
“It’s very important that we learn this,” said Tyrell Fiddler, a Grade 10 student from Sandy Lake. “Just learn from our mistakes and be safe.”
Phil Fontaine, special advisor to the Royal Bank of Canada, presented $10,000 to the Canadian Red Cross during a Jan. 25 DFC school assembly to support the delivery of the workshop.
The workshop includes innovative ways of working with youth that are fun and engaging. Using a transformative learning model, two Red Cross prevention educators provided the students with the knowledge and skills to advocate to youth and adults in their school and communities on the issues and impact of bullying and harassment.
Mishkeegogamang’s Davery Bottle is looking forward to passing his knowledge on to other youth in his community.
“It helps me to get a better view of what I think of bullying and children and how they are growing up,” said the Grade 11 student.