“I’m afraid for her mental wellbeing”: Mother calls out Anti-Asian bullying at school south of Montreal

The mother of a 14-year-old in Cowansville, Quebec, about an hour from Montreal is calling out Massey-Vanier High School and the Eastern Townships School Board for allegedly mishandling the bullying she says her daughter is being subjected to.

On Thursday, the mother and daughter, who asked that their names be kept private, held a press conference with the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) to speak out about the alleged injustices faced by the high schooler.

“I’m afraid for her mental wellbeing,” said the mother. “She has nightmares, and clear signs of despair, stress, anxiety.”

The young girl has allegedly been experiencing harassment from her peers at the school since 2022. The reason they say? Her race.

“They told her things like ‘What have you done with my dog? Do you eat cats?’ [Among other] racist slurs,” the mother told media during the press conference Thursday.

The young girl was adopted as a toddler and is the only Asian person in her grade.

“It’s a school that is predominantly white. Children of colour must be protected from these kinds of acts of harassment based on their race and skin colour,” said Fo Niemi, co-founder and executive director of CRARR.

The school board has an anti-bullying policy, as mandated by Quebec law but the young girl’s parents and CRARR say this policy is not being enforced properly.

“I’m very afraid of her physical and psychological security,” said the mother.

In an attempt to help alleviate bullying the school has adopted measures to keep the 14-year-old away from her bullies by making her leave her classes three minutes early and having her stay in a room by herself. However, this has not stopped the harassment, according to the young girl.

“They want to put me in a room so they don’t have to be wandering in the hallways,” she said. “Please don’t take my friends away from me.”

The mother says her daughter is under strict control by the school. As a result, she has no autonomy and is segregated from the rest of the students.

The young girl feels she is being punished for the wrongdoing of others and being “blamed” for “being the problem”.

“She angry at being segregated at being targetted for being the bully while the bullies are free,” said the mother. “It’s not healthy and conducive to learning.”

“They should set up an anti-racism educational program because it’s about the long-term consequence of not doing anything about all these racial slurs and jokes and to single her out because of her Asian ancestry,” said Niemi.

CRARR will assist the parents in filing a complaint with Quebec’s Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission against the Eastern Townships School Board.

The board said in a statement to CityNews on Friday morning that it does not comment on individual students’ files.

“However, we can tell you that schools of the Eastern Townships School Board offer a wide variety of services to help students achieve educational success.  All our schools reflect our values: Inclusion, well-being, and growth. Support Services are offered according to the needs and realities of each student. No form of racism or intimidation is tolerated in our schools. Each school, in compliance with the Act, has its own anti-bullying and anti-violence intervention plan, again adapted to the reality and needs of each school.”

Massey-Vanier High School has not responded to our request for comment.