Learn to Snitch!

October 5, 2010 permalink

Students in Cambridge are getting a vital lesson — learning the importance of snitching on your neighbors. Ontario is reviving the Use Your Voice slogan, not as a multi-media campaign aimed at the public, but as a campaign aimed at school children, telling them the importance of reporting other kids to children's aid.

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Agency kicks off Use Your Voice campaign against abuse, bullying

David Bebee, Record staff

David Bebee, Record staff

Manchester Public School students, from left, Samantha Boland, Nick Shier, Gina Singh, Aysha Patel, Nadia Clarke, Donte Peddle and Ethan Phan sign their names to a banner to support the Use Your Voice Campaign. October is child abuse prevention month.

October 05, 2010, By Liz Monteiro, Record staff

CAMBRIDGE — Students at Manchester Public School made a pledge on Monday.

The junior kindergarten to Grade 6 students promised to use their voices to report bullying and abuse.

The students signed their names to a banner promising to tell someone if they are being hurt or know of someone else being hurt.

The event kicks off Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month across the province.

“I hope the seed is planted. They have a voice to be heard,’’ said Rod Miller, senior manager at Family and Children’s Services of Waterloo Region.

Locally, the agency received 8,000 calls a year of people reporting some sort of abuse to a child. Of those 8,000 calls, 4,700 are investigated, said Miller.

Within the region, the agency works with 1,200 families and 525 children are in the care of Family and Children’s Services, Miller said.

The campaign, Use Your Voice — Don’t be a Bystander, encourages youth to report abuse whether bullying in the playground, on teams or at home.

“We all have a right to feel safe and protected whether at home, in the community or at school,’’ Miller told the students at an assembly in the school gymnasium on Monday.

Mohummid Sayanvala, 11, said he knows to report a problem if he sees one. That means telling his mother, father or a teacher, he said.

“If you’re being bullied, don’t be afraid to standup and tell them to stop,’’ said Grade 5 student Grace Thomson-Proctor.

lmonteiro@therecord.com

Source: The Record