Schools in this Canadian city have become so lawless and violence-prone that the authorities may bring in sniffer dogs to trace guns hidden in lockers and other places on campuses.
TORONTO: Schools in this Canadian city have become so lawless and violence-prone that the authorities may bring in sniffer dogs to trace guns hidden in lockers and other places on campuses.
According to a report by the Toronto District School Board, Toronto schools seem to have surpassed American schools in terms of sexual assaults and intimidation, if not in numbers of shooting deaths. However, the rising cases of physical abuse, sexual assault and staff intimidation go largely unreported.
Commissioned after a daylight shooting death of 15-year-old black student Jordon Manners at Jefferys Collegiate last May, the report makes shocking revelations about large-scale sexual assaults against female students and intimidation of teachers.
Between 20 percent and 30 percent of girls in many schools reported being sexually assaulted and forced to have sex by fellow students without their consent, the report said.
At Jefferys Collegiate, 12 percent students reported being shot at or held at gunpoint during the past two years.
And 23 percent students at another school reported their schoolmates brought guns to the school.
Teachers and staff in many schools reported that they feared for their life from violent students.
In one particular school, 41 staff members said they feared being shot or assaulted or robbed by unruly students.
In some schools, teachers reported that they dared not go into areas of the schools where students hung out in large numbers in order to avoid confrontation on disciplinary rules.
Fearing reprisals from the students, even school superintendents failed to back their staff that tried to enforce discipline.
Highlighting the culture of silence in schools, the report said board employees refused to go on record against students for fear of retaliation. Only 35 percent of them opened up when offered anonymity.
Over 80 percent students said they didn't report violence against them to police and school superintendents for fear of reprisal.
In view of the looming crisis, one of the 126 recommendations made by the panel include regular search of lockers and other places for weapons and gun-sniffing dogs on school campuses to sniff out guns hidden in school properties.
Currently, there are about 280,000 students and 16,000 teachers in 560 schools under the Toronto School Board, which is the largest in Canada with a budget of over Can$2,330 million (US$2,294 million) last year.
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