Countering violence and intimidation

Four workshops conceived by Alexandre Beaulieu, director of the behavioural sciences at the Université du Québec en Abititi-Temiscamingue, and Catheryne Lord, a social worker in violence and intimidation, recently took place with students at neighbourhood elementary schools (Alice-Parizeau, François-de-Laval, Gilles-Vigneault, Louisbourg and Ste. Odile).

The first workshop, entitled “The message is clear,” shows young people the importance of communicating discomfort or disagreement when they are victims of violence or intimidation. The second particularly concentrated on the role of witnesses. Michaud said the “general rule is, the situation stops within seconds of a witness getting involved.” They explained to children when the best moments are to denounce acts of violence or intimidation. The third workshop focused on conflict mediation, and the fourth covered cyber-bullying, which is characterized by personal attacks or threats on the Internet (blogs, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, etc.). Michaud observed that the children denounce these acts more and have a “clear message.” She underlined that “the program works very well” and that the youths now take initiative. Further projects have been submitted to the community school parties present in each neighborhood school. They will work in tandem with community organizations and institutions.

In response to the experiences in the elementary schools, a similar projects will be implemented in high schools throughout the summer. A violence and intimidation prevention program at the high school level will complete the work down my community relations police officer Stéphane Eid from Station 10.