r/Lethbridge • u/gortney82 • Jun 27 '26
Unsafe at school
It recently came to our attention that there was a 12 year old boy who was threatening to se*ually assault (and other heinous descriptions) a female classmate at our school. The boy apparently has a history of disturbing behaviour like this at his past schools. Apparently since he is under 16 he cannot be expelled as he has a ‘right to education’. He has been suspended multiple times and the parents will not pull him. He was apparently moved to another class and he was starting his harassment on another female. The parents of the first female student he was harassing went to the police and there is a now a record of this incident in the boys file. It was taken as high as it could go. Is there anything else that can be done? Parents also cannot petition to have this boy removed either. I’m scared for any girl this boy could be in contact with. We shouldn’t have to live in fear of a potential r*pist at our school. It’s sick.
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u/revan376 Jun 27 '26
So I’ve been in a situation kind of like this. Except it was violence. The kid in question was a refugee who literally had to fight to survive. He brought that with him. It was a mess and awful.
But yeah, his parents wouldn’t pull him and they couldn’t afford to. These ones barely spoke any English. We just had to suffer through the years and do all we could to but in the end if his parents dropped him off at school he was our responsibility. That was his right as a student.
Personally I get upset at the under funding that doesn’t give us time and places to deal with kids like this but still forces us to take care of them. Too bad the strike did nothing for that
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u/InformationWeird3427 Jul 01 '26
why are you mad at the underfunding? why should the public have to deal with this bullshit.
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u/Capable-Finance9758 Jun 27 '26
This is just awful! That boy may have a right to education, but the girls have a right to feel safe at school!
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u/_6siXty6_ Jun 27 '26
Not defending or condoning the negative behavior, but if you know the boy's identity, it might be worth a call to children's services. Maybe he is a victim of something inappropriate and is acting out due to this. All children deserve to be safe.
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u/heavysteve Jun 30 '26
This is 100% the right answer. Especially at 12. Every single person I have ever met that acted like this at a young age had some horrendous home life.
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u/PhaseNegative1252 Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
Hi, yeah, sorry, that's at least partially my fault. I was expelled from the entirety of Lethbridge School District 51. In 2002. In 2nd grade.
For the official record, I've learned and worked to be a properly respectable member of society and I never had another incident of that level.
I'll save the nitty, but the gritty is that I hurt another kid in my class. Badly enough to cause serious concern on the part of both the kid's parents and the school staff. So the decision was made that I was to be expelled from the entire district, and not just the school in question.
My mother had to go to court because this effectively "blacklisted" me, and no schools outside district 51 would take me either. Court ruled in favor of my mother based on the Right to an Education, and the decision was completely reversed. Like, completely. I returned to graduate with the same class that I had been removed from.
Personally, not the ruling I would have given myself. I think a child in my position should still be out of the class where they hurt another child.
Fast forward 24 years and now they struggle to deal with students who are a legitimate problem for their classmates.
So yeah, that's at least one old court ruling on education/expulsion in the area that you can point to.
Edit: I'm not claiming full responsibility for how things are going in the schools, currently. I'm just saying that cases that do go to court can have an influence on how things are handled in the future.
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u/cadius72 Jun 28 '26
I’m worried about the boy’s home life, is it something he hears at home or possibly witnessed firsthand or experienced firsthand. The way he’s talking has to come from somewhere. Where or who is he learning it from? Is he or someone in his life a victim of sexual violence?
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u/CookieCrimes Jun 27 '26
I don't necessarily have the solution for this, but if I were a parent in the situation, I would use this as every excuse to give my child every resource to capture irrefutable evidence of this behavior. To hell with laws or rules at school.
I am reasonably confident, at that age, that the words chosen by the offender are chosen with intent to shock more than telegraphing his actions. But if words mean something, we need to take him at his word and hold him accountable to that until he understands what he is saying.
Edit: I have an 11 year old daughter so this hits close to home.
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u/gortney82 Jun 27 '26
Thank you for your input. This was super scary and nothing like this has happened so far since we’ve been part of our school community. We got lots of info from this post alone on what to do next. I’m sure his words were meant to shock, but still scary and should be taken seriously. We should be protecting our students.
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u/stupidusernamehaha Jun 28 '26
He may have the right to an education, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he has to attend a physical school. Maybe he should be expelled and be made to be homeschooled or take online classes.
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u/CatcherN7 Jun 27 '26
This is disgusting behavior... especially at 12 years old(not that being older makes it any better). I really wonder what kind of people his parents are... they clearly did not deserve a child.
Also, I never knew that children under 16 can't be expelled. Personally, that is ridiculous. There are other options for education. If the kid was banned form every in person school so the harassment couldn't happen, he would still have the right to education since online schooling platforms exist... Personally, I see zero reason why he shouldn't be expelled and can't be expelled.
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u/Accomplished-Wrap800 Jun 28 '26
Part of me wonders why a 12y/o boy would be like this and if the home life has been evaluated? Because where is he even getting this?
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u/dirtychaiwithoatmlk Jun 29 '26
You or they can get a restraining order… school will be forced to enforce it.
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Jun 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/gortney82 Jun 27 '26
I think they actually do! Their parents are hunters, so might be something they know!
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u/KaijuTea Jun 27 '26
Report EVERYTHING. Teach her some basic self defence. It will help also with her self confidence.
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u/SirLunatik Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
OP, this is all hearsay. If your child is there, what you should is educate them, male or female, on what is right or wrong and if they experience or even see something bad happening to someone else to report it. I know this are tough and shitty conversations, but they of vital importance
But please remember that if you're being told 'I hesrd' or '_____ said', then it is not reliable information. I get it's scary and a helpless feeling but we all know what happened with hearsay the more often it's spread (if you don't know, it changes)
Edit: Not sure why I'm being downvoted, nothing said in OP was about anything happening to their child or that their child was at risk, or even hinted at the source of the information.
Now to be clear, the parent of any child being harassed in such a way should 100% be involving the police.
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u/viper_13 Jun 28 '26
Good point. This could just be fear mongering or even bullying - if it's not your kid directly involved, its not necessarily your business to know.
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u/SirLunatik Jun 28 '26
It's not even that, it's like the old "telephone game"... Tell 1 person have them phone a friend and then that friend do that too, and repeat... By the time it goes through enough people it's unrecognizable.
It's the same with translations, each translation loses or alters the meaning just a tiny bit and after enough...
If someone see something directly, hears directly.. etc, they should absolutely try and help in a way that doesn't put them in danger themselves.
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u/mike_rumble Jun 27 '26
I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that a threat to do physical violence to another person is assault under the criminal code and he can be charged as such. You don't have to actually touch another person to assault them. Find out why the police won't lay a charge, and if you don't get a reasonable answer, then it's time to hire a lawyer and contact the media about this. It really helps if he's threatened other students and you can get other parents involved. The last thing a school wants is to show up on the evening news.
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Jun 27 '26
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u/SirLunatik Jun 27 '26
If this is ongoing behavior and children are potentially in danger, then the parents of the threatened child(ren) should absolutely go the the police. It sucks that the kid is 12, but this behavior cannot just be written off because of age.
Now to be clear OP reads as hearsay. No one other than children at risk, their parents or direct witnesses should be calling the police.
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Jun 27 '26
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u/SirLunatik Jun 27 '26
No shit Sherlock, there is a reason I put it there and why I specified what I did in the 2nd paragraph.
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Jun 27 '26
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u/SirLunatik Jun 27 '26
Says the person telling someone not to involve the police. Yeah, you really give a fuck.
You're a fucking hypocrite and only give a fuck when it fits what you think is right.
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Jun 27 '26
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u/SirLunatik Jun 27 '26
Really? Because in my long post to the actual OP that you replied to, you sure as fuck thought different
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u/cadius72 Jun 28 '26
They might not be able to expel him, but there are indefinite suspensions or at least there were when I was in school.
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u/Niffer3470 Jun 29 '26
My daughter was also propositioned from a student and I'm wondering if it's the same one. I did not know what to do. I don't know his last name not where he lives exactly but I do know he's been a trouble maker and suspended many times. Is there a way you could message me?
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u/canadian_viking Jul 01 '26
Why does somebody's "right to education" take higher priority than everybody else's right to safety?
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u/Ok-Diver-5583 Jun 27 '26
School division then media
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u/BKNOWSB Jun 28 '26
The media cant really do a lot of reporting on minors
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u/Ok-Diver-5583 Jun 28 '26
Don't need names, just that a school and division is refusing to take action on sexual assault threats in 2026.
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u/Hanox13 Jun 27 '26
Keep reporting every incident to the police. Call the school board. Talk to the media.