Bullying was one issue on the table for Prince George residents at the “Coffee with the Candidates” meeting this weekend.
School board candidates met at the PG Library on Saturday to have a face to face with residents leading up to voting day.
Jen McEachen has nieces and nephews in the school system, she questioned the candidates about special needs support and bullying in schools.
“I wanted to ask about anti-bullying policies to see if that needs improvement,” she said.
“I felt that it still needs a lot of work. They need to go out and talk to the parents. Kids aren’t getting the support they need when they’re bullied, and same with the kids that are doing the bullying, they need lots of support too.”
She said cyberbullying is harder to control and certainly a problem these days. She wasn’t optimistic about the response from candidates.
“I don’t think they were receptive. But they’ve got a week left, they need to get out there and talk to the parents and kids.”
Karen Wong, president of the support staff for school district 57, also had two children go through the Prince George school system. She was addressing funding primarily but also wanted to speak about the bullying issue.
“Some of the trustees spoke about reviewing a task force about bullying, which is important in the 21st century. But we need to look at social media and online, and it needs to become a normal everyday conversation,” said Wong.
Also in discussion were candidates policies and what the new board will do about a shortage in space for students. Election day for school board candidates is on Saturday, October 20th.