Teachers' union, education minister worry far-right targeting N.L. schools

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 3:04 PM EST | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Both the province's acquisition curate and the teachers' national are worried about far-right ideologues targeting schools, and attacking teachers some successful idiosyncratic and online, after a bid of incidents crossed the province.

Most recently, wrong the past week a radical of adults — including the parents of students — entered some Holy Trinity High School successful Torbay, and Carbonear Collegiate to angrily face staff.

In videos posted connected societal media by immoderate of the parents and students successful Carbonear, members of the radical — who had gathered wrong the gathering — can beryllium seen shouting accusations astatine 2 schoolhouse administrators, including claims staff had been looking astatine students who were utilizing the washroom.

They said the protestation was due to the fact that of their concerns of teachers going "into the bathrooms and peeking up and implicit the stalls and betwixt the cracks of the stall."

In abstracted societal media posts, different parents and students said unit were monitoring the bathrooms for people smoking oregon vaping.

Police intervened astatine the Carbonear Collegiate incident, removing the parents from the school.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association says teachers are doing their job, and portion of that includes supervising students.

And the union's president says similar incidents person happened crossed the province, leaving schoolhouse unit feeling harassed.

"Schools person go battlegrounds, it seems, not conscionable physically but besides virtually," NLTA president Trent Langdon told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show. "It's clip for this to travel to an end. Enough is enough."

One of the protesters successful the Carbonear Collegiate incidental was Shane Sweeney, 1 of 2 radical charged with transgression harassment and causing a disturbance aft starring a "surprise convoy" protestation extracurricular Premier Andrew Furey's location connected July 9, 2023.  The crown successful the case decided to driblet the charges successful speech for a bid enslaved requiring Sweeney to keep the bid and beryllium of bully behaviour.

WATCH | Some accidental unit person been monitoring bathrooms successful an effort to halt vaping:

"We are being invaded by a far-right agenda, galore times attacking diverseness and acceptance and respect successful our schools," said Langdon.

It's a sentiment echoed by the province's acquisition minister, who said she's alert of the incidents that person happened implicit the past fewer weeks.

"If we proceed this battle connected our institutions past what's to support america from spiraling into anarchy," said Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell.

Proper channels

On March 5, NLSchools sent a missive to parents, calling those caller incidents "concerning."

"For the information of students and schoolhouse staff, schools are not nationalist spaces," said the letter.

It said no 1 is allowed connected schoolhouse spot without support and school's volition enforce the authorities wherever necessary.

The incidents person made students and teachers consciousness uncomfortable, and Langdon said the national is warring backmost with a run to enactment teachers.

"It's clip for america to reclaim our schools present and for radical to accidental that schools are meant to beryllium an unfastened spot for diversity, respect and for learning," helium said.

"Because close present attraction is being fixed to tiny groups of radical who are attempting to summation power of the nationalist commentary, and that's not bully enough."

LISTEN | CBC's Jen White speaks with Trent Langdon connected what's driving a caller run to enactment teachers: 

Teachers are upset and are receiving idiosyncratic attacks, helium said, adding cases are happening successful tiny towns truthful the teachers can't flight the harassment, adjacent erstwhile going to get groceries.

Part of the NLTA advertisement run includes Langdon saying "many teachers are being slandered, threatened, and attacked with harmful misinformation connected societal media."

Langdon implored the "adults successful the room" to "model decent behaviour for young people."

He said he's moving with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, arsenic good arsenic with the schools, the Conseil scolaire francophone provincial de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador and government.

"Everyone has a relation to play here. But the nationalist needs to beryllium good alert of what they're sharing and what they're liking," said Langdon.

Both Howell and Langdon said if parents person concerns astir thing happening successful the schools, determination are due channels they tin enactment done to have it addressed.

Howell said the due mode to rise concerns doesn't see showing up connected the schoolhouse grounds oregon "bashing them connected societal media."

It's unfortunate determination are radical who consciousness taking those actions is simply a mode to get a response, she said, adding that schools aren't nationalist places truthful radical tin participate them "on a whim."

"Ultimately, the connection that I privation to nonstop retired is that our schools are not nationalist places. These are places wherever you person to person circumstantial entree successful bid to get in. And that's a portion of legislation," Howell said.

She said that's enforceable nether the Access to Health and Education Services Act, which she said they volition enforce portion inactive respecting people's close to protestation successful due ways.

Howell besides thanked the RCMP for responding to the protestation astatine Carbonear Collegiate, though she said it wasn't an avenue she liked to spot used.

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