My daughter, a student at a Nova Scotia public school, has been subjected to abuse by her peers. Despite the severity of these incidents, no reports were filed by the school administration. Instead of providing support and justice for my daughter, she was blamed for the incidents by the administrators in charge. As a parent seeking justice for my child, I have faced slander and an unethical breach of public trust by their negligence. 

This is not just about my daughter's safety but also about upholding the Nova Scotia legislative code of conduct that all public schools are obligated to follow. The lack of counselling supports made available to students who have experienced such trauma is deeply concerning. 

According to Statistics Canada, during the 2022/23 school year, there were 17,234 REPORTED incidents of physical violence in or around Nova Scotia’s public schools alone. (Now, imagine taking into consideration the problem on a national level.) This alarming statistic highlights how widespread this issue is within our educational institutions. Even more alarming is the fact that these numbers are ‘presumed’ to be extremely underreported in reality. 

We (myself, my daughter/the student, and many other concerned parents and students within the NS education system) call upon the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in Nova Scotia to take immediate action. We plea for thorough investigations into these allegations and appropriate disciplinary actions against those found guilty. We demand an end to violence in Nova Scotia public schools, improved accountability measures for staff members who fail their duty of care towards students and justice for all victims who have suffered due to this systemic failure.

We also urge them to implement stronger safety measures including anti-bullying programs and readily available counselling services within schools across Nova Scotia.

Let us ensure that our children can learn without fear; let us uphold their rights as enshrined under Canadian law; let us restore faith in our education system's ability to protect its students from harm while fostering an environment conducive for learning.