A bully...someone who uses their strength to intimidate others. Bullies will take time out there day just to hurt another person and I honestly have never understood what the point of bullying is. I don’t understand how making someone else feel bad makes them feel good. In Indian Horse, there are many instances where people are just straight up bullies for their actions.
change the style in which he plays hockey, the only thing he enjoys. The hockey rink was Saul's safe place, and being bullied is the reason he lost that safe spot. They are the reason Saul lost himself. Physical bullying is the most obvious way of bullying. Saul speaks of a time at St. Jerome's when Lonnie was hit by a paddle that's “blunt and wide and drilled with holes across its face...He screamed as the paddle struck his back” (46). The clergy seemed to take pride in making these children's lives miserable. The clergy used force to demonstrate their dominance over the kids. I can't fathom how hitting someone, much less a child, makes them feel empowered. But sadly it didn't occur only in these residential schools. It happens more often than it should.
Bullying is a situation that is happening so often and by so many people. To be honest, it happening at all is too often. Physical abuse happens everywhere. At school, on the streets and in the workplace. There are elementary students bullying each other. High school students bullying each other. Even adults who bully. Why is it such a common occurrence? I would think it makes sense that as a person gets older they would realize it's wrong to bully. Yet, bullying happens at every age.
I don't think there's a solution to bullying because there are people in this world who truly don't care how they make others feel. But I do think the amount of bullying can be reduced. Bystanders need to step up. Sitting back afraid to be noticed by the bully makes you a part of the bullying as well. The bystander is letting the victim be attacked and feel diminished. People need to step up and say something to the bullied because if you were the one being bullied, would you not want to someone to help you out?
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The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada is trying to unite the relationships between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians and in the long run making a better, stronger Canada. Canada is finally willing to acknowledge that residential schools happened, and what happened in them, after many years. A key step in this process is having open dialogue and public education of the legacy of residential schools. In order to acknowledge the past, it must be stated clearly that many of the basic human rights, stated in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, were violated on extreme levels. Throughout learning about the UDHR in class I learned that many rights were not followed such as article 5 (free from torture), article 15 (right to nationality), article 18 (freedom of religion) and many more.
There’s not really a roundabout way to address what occurred at residential schools so the only way is to tell the truth and not hide it. The TRC is providing an opportunity to survivors and family members or residential school students a chance to share their story. Once the word starts to spread across communities then individuals will them be motivated to help out with having an effective relationship. A part of this movement is The Missing Children Project, this project has set out to document the deaths of children that died in residential schools. In Indian Horse, during Saul’s time at St. Jerome’s he notices there’s “Row on row of unmarked graves. Row on row of four and five foot indentations like a finger from heaven had pressed them down” (50). Many children's deaths are not recorded and therefore parents have no idea where their child is. Some children once out of the school never went back to their families leaving them wondering what happened. I honestly think is one of the things that needs to be done, not because they want a relationship back, but because it’s the right thing to do. I couldn’t imagine parents not having closure for the own child that was ripped from them and died. As human beings this project is the respectful thing to do whether anyone wants a relationship or not. The final report published by the TRC has information on everything that happened with information from 6500 witnesses from around Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission took the first giant step to spread the word and work towards a better future without covering up the past. I always hear Canada is a place where everyone is happy and respectful. I think it’s time to live up to that and accept the mistakes that have been made in the past in order to have a healthy relationship with Aboriginals in the many years to come. |
Check out this article:
Three years later, is Canada keeping its Truth and Reconciliation Commission promises? |