Opinion

Hard lessons

Violence in Canadian schools is rising as students’ complex needs are neglected and teachers are stretched thin. The only solution is more boots on the ground Naomi Buck The Globe and Mail Published 4 minutes ago

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: BRYAN GEE/THE GLOBE AND MAIL. SOURCES: GETTY IMAGES

Naomi Buck is a writer based in Toronto.

On a June afternoon in 2022, in the hallway of an ivy-covered high school in Ottawa, 15 year-old Matthew Morris was dragged into a bathroom by a fellow student, knocked to the tiled floor and punched and kicked repeatedly in the head. Several students stood around watching, and one filmed the assault on his phone.

The video ends when a lanky kid in green shorts walks over to the assailant and pulls him off. “Chill,” he says.

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