After hearing for months that her 11-year old daughter, fifth grader Harley Campos, has allegedly been bullied at her public school in Toronto, Canada, Jill Trahan-Hardy decided to take matters into her own hands and accompany her daughter throughout her school day, thespec.com reports.
With the approval of the superintendent, Trahan-Hardy is now her daughter's near constant guardian, accompanying her in the hallways, at recess and during lunch, and has been at her daughter's classroom door the moment the bell rings since Monday. She calls this solution extreme but ultimately necessary.
"It's ridiculous that I have to do this," said Trahan-Hardy. "Hopefully this doesn't have to go on for the rest of the school year, but if it does, I'll be here."
Bullying has become a hot button issue in the media in the past few years as more young kids have resorted to suicide in response. Mounting unrest from parents who are tired of helplessly watching their children suffer at school, fuel actions like Trahan-Hardy.
The concerned decided to escort her daughter after dissatisfying solutions were presented to her by administrators at Earl Haig Public School in Toronto. She said that she first brought her concerns about her daughter being bullied to teachers in March, but soon began to fear for the safety of her daughter.
Campos' tormentors, two girls in Grade 7, confronted her during lunch hour early last week, and according to an audio recording of the interaction, threatened to beat up Campos for allegedly talking behind their backs and making remarks about one of their mothers who recently passed away. Campos denies the allegations.
The recording was made using another student's iPhone, and brought to administrators by Trahan-Hardy, who then pulled her daughter out of school. She was unhappy with the day-and-a-half-suspension she says that the two older girls received, and was upset by the school's offers of allowing Campos to stay in the office during lunch or transfer to a different school.
"She is being punished for being bullied," Trahan-Hardy said. "It's unacceptable." She also reported the incident to the police, but Const. Wendy Drummond said an investigation was conducted with no charges laid, and the case is now closed.
Co-chair of the school council at Earl Haig, Karen Finley-Kelly, said that Trahan-Hardy's concerns are not shared by the majority of other parents, who view it as a "very safe and supportive community."
"If (being at school is) what's going to make her feel better, I guess that's OK, but I think the school does a pretty good job on its own," she said. "I worry that more kids will feel that they will have to do that. I don't like that idea, and I don't think it's necessary."
Vicky Branco, school board superintendent, declined to discuss the specifics of the case, citing privacy concerns. However, she confirmed that at that moment, a parent is "volunteering in the school for a period of one week."
"As with any resolution, each is unique and made in the best interests of the student," Branco said in an email. "Should there be any concerns moving forward, we will of course have further conversations with those involved."
Ryan Bird, TDSB spokesman, said schools rely on a number of methods to deal with bullying, including "restorative practices, mediation, progressive discipline, and use of social workers."
David Smith, a bullying prevention expert at the University of Ottawa, worries that the trouble with this solution is that it risks "further isolating" Harley Campos, a concern Trahan-Hardy said she also shares.
However, Campos said that having her mom around with her in school isn't as "weird" as she thought it would be, and apart from some snickers she receives in the hallway, the older girls have left her alone.
