A schoolyard incident in Charlottetown that left a 12-year-old boy with a broken femur was simply an accident, says the superintendent of the French Language School Board.
However, the boy’s mother believes the serious injury was a result of bullying.
Rose-Lune Goulet says she is not surprised by the finding because the incident was a difficult one to assess.
“They have to go with what they have, but in my book it’s still bullying,’’ she says.
Goulet filed an assault complaint with Charlottetown Police Services saying she believed her son Kayson was injured at the hands of a bully.
She says the boy who allegedly pushed her son has been bullying him regularly for at least the past two years.
However, police only offered assistance in the investigation, which was never treated as a possible criminal matter due to the young age of the children involved, says Deputy Chief Brad MacConnell.
Anne Bernard-Bourgeois, the school board’s superintendent, would not speak specifically about any possible bullying Kayson may have been enduring at Ecole Francois-Buote.
She did say, though, that efforts will be made to reduce the risk of children suffering serious injury like Kayson’s broken femur due to roughhousing.
“I think what we will end up doing is looking at our policy around playing…have a less contact type of play on our playground,’’ she says.
What Goulet wants – what she has long been pushing for -- is zero tolerance towards bullying that comes with attentive monitoring and effective enforcement.
She says her boy, who has autism, has suffered dearly from constant bullying.
Kayson has been the recipient of a cruel campaign of abuse that really started to intensify in Grade 4, notes Goulet.
The bullying has run the gamut of name calling, shoving and the strong irritant of his hat constantly being swatted off his head.
Goulet says the repeated bullying has lowered her son’s self-esteem, reduced his trust in people and hampered his ability to grow.
“It makes him hate school,’’ she says.
Kayson often comes home with his head hanging low, slams the door and cries when asked what happened at school.
Once, in Grade 4, he hid in the house so he would miss the bus to school. He told his mother he did not want to go to school because all the boys were mean to him.
Kayson, who was at home Wednesday after being released from hospital following surgery on his broken femur, told The Guardian getting bullied makes him mad “because it’s being mean to me.’’
He says bullying happens to him “a lot.’’
He believes the shove in the playground last week that led to his serious injury was another case of bullying. He notes he was not even playing King of the Hill with the other boys.
As a result of the frightening incident, he does not want to return to school.
The injury has further fueled Goulet’s anger and frustration over the ongoing suffering her boy has endured at school.
She plans to advocate even more strongly against bullying than she has in the past.
“It has no place anywhere,’’ she says.
“I don’t want any other kids to suffer anywhere from bullying.’’
Bernard-Bourgeois agrees bullying cannot be tolerated.
“I take bullying very, very seriously,’’ she says.
“It’s unfortunate bullying happens in all schools. It’s important we address it when it happens.’’
