The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Education:

Minister Highlights Importance of Student Leadership

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share a recent experience I had in Gander when I had the privilege of attending this year’s Provincial Student Leadership Conference.

Attending these annual conferences has been one of the highlights of my tenure as Minister of Education. The energy and enthusiasm displayed by our young people at these events each year is incredible to witness. These students are leaders in their schools; they are role models for their fellow students, and they are the future generation of leaders in our communities, in our province, and in our country.

I was particularly interested, Mr. Speaker, in hearing their views on bullying, harassment and intimidation during an interactive session hosted by the Office of Public Engagement. When asked, for example, where the majority of this behaviour takes place, 75 per cent of the approximately 400 participants indicated it takes place online.

Our young people are growing up in a world very different than the one we experienced, Mr. Speaker. The advent of technology and social media has resulted in new, increasingly insidious ways for our children to be hurt and humiliated – sometimes with tragic results. And it has to stop.

Mr. Speaker, we are now finalizing a new Safe and Caring Schools policy, which I expect to release in the coming weeks. We also plan to introduce legislation designed to strengthen our ability to prevent and respond to incidents of this nature. These actions are the result of recommendations received from an independent consultant, followed by an extensive consultation process involving school board and district personnel, the NLTA, the Federation of School Councils, RNC, RCMP, other community agencies, school administrators, teachers, parents and, of course, students themselves. There was also an online component to the consultations, which encouraged any member of the public with an interest in this issue to offer their suggestions on what we can do – as a government and as a society – to combat this issue.

Mr. Speaker, a great deal of work has been done by all of our education and community partners, and by the media, to raise awareness of this issue among students, parents and the public at large.

I commend these efforts, and I invite my colleagues in this House to congratulate Valerie Abbott, chair of this year’s Provincial Student Leadership Conference, and all the organizers and volunteers who reinforced the anti-bullying message and helped make this year’s conference a resounding success.

2013 11 20                                     2:30 p.m.