Dear editor,
We would like to thank Pam Choi for her very articulate letter (Record, March 8), and clarify a few misconceptions in a otherwise clear, concise and well-thought-out letter defending her school.
1) We never tried using your school as a scapegoat, as we never mentioned the school's name and took great pains to be vague in describing it.
2) Yes, like all child safety advocates, we have issue's with Clark and McRae because they have done nothing about this pandemic (not epidemic) called bullying.
3) Of the 500-plus e-mails and calls we mentioned, all IPs and phone numbers are different.
4) I have talked to your administration officials six times in the past 10 months about bullying in your school.
5) We used Amanda's name because her family is on the front lines in this war against bullying. We wouldn't use the name you did. ( shame on the Comox Valley Record for printing it ) out of respect for her family and the quiet, dignified way they are dealing with the "absolute unthinkable."
6) I have been inside your school over 20 times in the past two years and used vague geographical points of reference so as to not embarrass the outstanding teaching staff and the wonderful 95 per cent of the student body.
7) You're right; we don't have the solutions for this hideous plague, but we do know other provinces and states are achieving much better results fighting bullying and have lower suicide rates than B.C. by having "zero tolerance."
8) We are not looking to expand into high schools, ever.
9) We find it interesting that the three letters defending your school from the PAC, trustee and student never denied the coloured stairs or how and who can and can't use them.
On the bright side, Street Smart Kidz of Canada has been informed by a school administrator that all stairs will be one uniform colour when students return in the fall. Seems there have been "ongoing issues involving the stairs" for quite sometime. Problem solved.
Keep up the letter writing, Pam! School pride is a wonderful thing and should come easy being a member of the "Highland family."
Steven Baird,
Comox Valley
Editor's note: Steven Baird is the managing director of Street Smart Kidz, Canada.