The province welcomes the report of the cyberbullying task force, released today, March 22, and will work with partners to identify first priorities to help keep kids safe.

Cyberbullying Task Force chair Wayne MacKay, professor at Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, released the paper titled Respectful and Responsible Relationships: There's No App for That, The Report of the Nova Scotia Task Force on Bullying and Cyberbullying.

"Bullying is a major social issue throughout the world and is one of the symptoms of a deeper problem in our society -- the deterioration of respectful and responsible human relations," said Mr. MacKay. "The magnitude of the problem is daunting and there are no simple solutions on the horizon. There are, however, some effective strategies.

"The theme throughout the report is to expose bullying as a behaviour that, to use common parlance, is definitely not cool."

• the scope and consequences of bullying and cyberbullying
• partnering, networking and continued dialogue
• definitions
• law and policy
• interventions and proactive measures
• educating diverse audiences
• accountability and responsibility structures

"For too long, young people have been victims of bullying, and now cyberbullying," said Education Minister Ramona Jennex. "We heard from parents, students, teachers, and Nova Scotians who told us that this is a serious issue with serious consequences that must be dealt with. This government agrees, and we are committed to working with our partners to keep our kids safe.

"I would like to thank professor MacKay, the Cyberbullying Task Force and Working Group, and all of their partners for working hard to analyze the scope and prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying in our communities, and for offering possible solutions to keep our children safe from harm. I also want to thank everyone who participated in meetings, or provided input in other ways."

Support for the Cyberbullying Task Force has been so positive that it will take longer than expected to process all the feedback and recommendations from Nova Scotians.

The task force will have until the end of February to deliver its report and recommendations to help with the problem of cyberbullying.

"I have been very impressed with the high level of public interest and the willingness of many parts of our community to partner in finding better responses to the growing problems of bullying and cyberbullying," said Wayne MacKay, Cyberbullying Task Force chair. "Forging these partnerships takes time but is well worth the effort."

Along with presentations from experts in the fields of bullying and cyberbullying, the task force received more than 5,000 responses to the online survey and conducted 35 focus groups involving about 1,000 students from across the province. The chair also had several speaking engagements on the topic, including meetings with the public.

"Since the task force began, the response from Nova Scotians has been tremendous," said Education Minister Ramona Jennex. "Our partners recognized from the onset that the original timeline was ambitious, and I acknowledge the need for more time to process the enormous amount of input, especially from students."

To get a better picture of the scope and prevalence of the problem, and to find out what students think are possible solutions, the task force increased the number of student focus groups from eight to 35.

The Cyberbullying Task Force and Working Group are analyzing the information collected from the expert presentations, focus groups and online survey for use in the overall report.

The theme of our October meeting was interventions and programs that may be used to address the issue of bullying and cyberbullying. On October 20th, we heard from Angela Davis from Communities Addressing Suicide Together (CAST) and Meagan MacDonald and Keith Anderson, who discussed Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS). Dr. Janice Graham-Migel spoke about the Comprehensive Guidance and Counselling Program and we learned about Peaceful Schools International and the Canadian Red Cross’s Respect Ed program from Joe Morrison and Stacy Coy. Dr. Lisa Bayrami spoke to the group about the Roots of Empathy program and shared some of the exciting new research that they are engaged in. We also discussed current school initiatives, such as the Achievement Gap Initiative with Tom Henderson and Positive Effective Behaviour Supports and the Student Information System with Rola AbiHanna and Lois Gibson.

On October 21st we held another public meeting at Citadel High School in Halifax. We would like to thank the Halifax Regional School Board and the staff and students of Citadel High School who helped to make this day possible. The students not only attended sessions throughout the day but also participated in an afternoon youth focus group. We heard from the Human Rights Commission and the Truro Police, who presented with Cyber Robot to a group of elementary students from Oxford School. We also learned more about Restorative Approaches from Richard Derible, Emma Halpern and Jennifer Llewellyn, as well as a youth panel from the Yarmouth area that included students Bianca Arey and Bria Miller.

Our meeting on November 8th and 9th was dedicated to the review of information from the previous meetings over the past six months and the development of suggested recommendation by the Working Group for the Task Force and Chair, Wayne MacKay. We quickly realized that we had a great deal of information to review and process and that in order to do it justice, it would require an additional meeting on December 5th and 6th. This will be the last scheduled meeting for the Working Group.

Students from every region of the province have played a crucial role in helping the Minister's Task Force on Cyberbullying. Now the task force wants to hear from the public.

The task force completed its youth focus groups tour by visiting at least three classes in each of the province's eight school boards in September and October. A total of about 1,000 upper elementary, junior high and high school students took part in 35 sessions.

The next Cyberbullying Task Force meeting will be open to the public on Friday, Oct. 21, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Citadel High School Auditorium, Spatz Theatre in Halifax. The morning will feature presentations from the Human Rights Commission, The Truro Police Cyber Robot, and a Restorative Approaches Youth Panel from Yarmouth. At 1:30 p.m., the task force will lead a discussion with youth.

"It is extremely important to hear from students if we want to find solutions to the problem of cyberbullying," said Education Minister Ramona Jennex. "The focus groups and public meeting are excellent examples of how staff from different departments work together with youth to tackle a serious problem for families and communities."

The information from the focus groups and public meeting will be compiled for the task force to complete the report to the Minister of Education in December.

"The more we learn about bullying and cyberbullying, the more apparent it becomes that it is a very complex and serious issue," said Wayne Mackay, Cyberbullying Task Force chair. "The information gathered from the youth focus groups and meeting will be a valuable addition to the online survey data and the knowledge gained from leading experts on bullying."

The focus groups were facilitated by Mat Whynott, Cyberbullying Task Force member and ministerial assistant responsible for youth, Noreen Stadie, Department of Justice, Morris Green, Department of Health and Wellness and Glenn Friel, Department of Education. Youth also had a role in creating and facilitating the focus groups. Cyberbullying Task Force and Working Group members Breanna Fitzgerald and Aaron Stevens had input into designing the focus groups, and four youth assisted with some of the sessions.

"It was obvious to me that youth care very deeply about finding solutions for the problem of cyberbullying," said Mr. Whynott. "The level of participation was astounding, and there was definitely a lot of enthusiasm from students at every level to help us during the sessions."

The focus groups and public meeting were designed to examine the scope of the problems of bullying and cyberbullying, assess the existing responses to the problems, learn more about the reasons and consequences of bullying and cyberbullying and to discover what students think schools and communities, law enforcement, parents and families, and youth could do to help with the problem.

Citadel High School Auditorium is at 1855 Trollope St. Visitors are asked to use the Trollope Street doors only and there is no parking onsite.

Cyberbullying is a serious problem in our communities, and we need to find community solutions.

Nova Scotia’s Cyberbullying Task Force wants to invite you to be part of the journey.

On Friday, October 21st, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Cyberbullying Task Force Meeting will be open to the public at the Citadel High School Auditorium, Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope St., Halifax.

The morning will feature presentations from the Human Rights Commission, The Truro Police Cyber Robot, and a Restorative Approaches Youth Panel from Yarmouth.

At 1:30, the task force will lead a discussion with youth to find out what they think can be done about cyberbullying.

Entrance from the Trollop Street doors only -- No parking on-site.

We have had many engaging and informative monthly meetings and our meeting in September on policy and legal issues was no exception. It was the first open meeting where the public had the opportunity to learn along with us. The open meetings were held at Empire Theatres Parklane, in Halifax on the mornings of September 12 and 13. We want to thank Empire Theatres for the generous use of their facility.

A very special thank you to our presenter Eric Roher, author of Educator’s Guide to Violence in Schools, who kindly came to Halifax from Toronto to share his expertise on the policies and laws that have been put in place in Ontario to address this serious problem. Pam Murchinson spoke to the group again to discuss the tragic loss of her daughter Jenna. We also heard from Barbara Kaiser, author of Challenging Behaviour in Young Children and Kevin Kindred from Bell Aliant , who presented on the legal boundaries of the Internet Service Provider.

On the second day, Scott MacDonald, responsible for Community Relations Crime Prevention with the Halifax Regional Police, spoke about the process for investigations and the role of School Liaison Officers. Bob Konopasky initiated an interesting debate on the liability of school boards with respect to bullying and cyberbullying incidents. Karen Fitzner and Lisa Teryl from the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission discussed how they may work as a partner in the future to address the issue of bullying and cyberbullying. Finally, Shaheen Shariff, Professor and international expert on legal issues that have emerged in relation to on-line social communications such as cyber-bullying presented to the group through internet conferencing.

We have had the good fortune of having some of North America’s leaders in the area of bullying and cyberbullying present to our team -- and now Nova Scotians will have the opportunity to share in our learning.

The Cyberbullying Task Force and Working Group meeting will be open to the public on September 12th and 13th from 9 a.m. to noon at Empire Theatres Park Lane, 5657 Spring Garden Rd, in Cinema 4.

The focus for the September meeting will be on policy and law. This is one of the key areas the task force and working group have been exploring and changes in this area may be included in the final recommendations. The two morning sessions will include guest speakers such as Pam Murchinson, mother of Jenna Bowers-Bryanton; Eric Roher, author of Educator’s Guide to Violence in Schools; Sgt. Scott MacDonald, Community Relations Crime Prevention, Halifax Regional Police; John McKinlay and Bob Konopasky, presenters of Education’s Perfect Storm: Outmoded or No Bullying Policies, Grievous Harm to Victims and Justifiable Civil Litigations; and Karen Fitzner and Lisa Teryl from the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

We hope you will be able to join us.

Sincerely,

Wayne Mackay,

Cyberbullying Task Force Chair

The Task Force and Working Group have had many interesting and informative presenters since our first meeting together in June, and the August meeting was no exception. We heard from some of our community partners, the YWCA, who conducted a focus group with some of our young women, and also the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, who talked about the hypersexualization of women in the media and on the internet. We had one of our own youth committee members, Aaron Stevens, present on youth and technology. It was both incredibly educational and shocking all at the same time.

Finally, we heard from Parry Aftab, a leader on cyberbullying issues in the United States and Internationally, as well as founder of WiredSafety. Parry speaks in the media on the issue of cyberbullying regularly and is seen as the in-house expert for many popular television and news programs. We would like to thank her for supporting our work in Nova Scotia and generously agreeing to speak with the Task Force and Working Group. Click here to see Parry's presentation.

We recently had our second meeting of the task force and working group on July 14th and 15th. It was a full two days of guest speakers, related to the scope of the problem and impact of bullying and cyberbullying on children and youth.

One of our most memorable speakers was Pam Murchinson, who lost her daughter Jenna tragically this past year. Pam was so gracious and kind to share her story with us and we really appreciate her commitment to making people aware of this problem and her support of our work. We were all moved and touched by her story, honesty and strength. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Pam for her participation in our session.

We also heard from other presenters, such as The Youth Project and Misty Morrison, both of whom ran focus groups with some of our marginalized youth, in the LGBT and African Nova Scotian communities. Dr. Stan Kutcher spoke to us about the impact bullying and cyberbullying may have on the mental health of children and youth, especially those that are already dealing with a mental health problems or illness. Pam Reardon from Nova Scotia Legal Aid talked about the impact this issue has on youth, in particular those involved or at risk of being involved in the youth criminal justice system. Finally, we ended the day with Gerard Cormier, who presented on the issue of homophobia. Gerard talked to us about the importance of having language in policies that speak specifically to homophobia and transphobia.

We are happy to report that, to date, just over 2500 surveys have been completed and over half of those surveys were completed by youth across Nova Scotia. We would like to have some of these informative sessions and presenters available to all Nova Scotians as well, and so we have decided to open portions of our monthly meetings to the public in September and October. We will provide more details shortly so keep checking back to our website, cyberbullying.novascotia.ca, for more information.

Cyberbullying Survey off to a Great Start (July 6, 2011)

The province is inviting Nova Scotians to share their ideas and experiences on cyberbullying through a new survey and website, launched today, June 10.

Professor Wayne MacKay from Schulich School of Law is leading Nova Scotia’s Task Force into Cyberbullying. Professor MacKay is a former Director of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, and a former President of Mount Allison University.