Quebec announces $30 million to combat school violence and bullying

The Quebec government says it plans to spend $30 million over five years to prevent and counter violence and bullying in schools.

Education Minister Bernard Drainville announced that the School Violence and Bullying Prevention Plan will focus on documenting, training, raising awareness and supporting students, teachers and staff.

Drainville says the vast majority of schools in the province are secure and safe, but video and images of violent acts are dispersed widely and quickly.

Schools are now required to document all incidents of violence.

"This information will make it easier to monitor developments in the phenomenon and will be used by schools to adjust their actions and improve their anti-bullying plans," a Ministry of Education news release reads.

"As a father, but also as minister of education, it upsets me to see all these acts of violence in our schools, whether it's violence between students or towards our teachers and school staff," Drainville said. "Such behaviour has no place in our schools. That's why we've been working over the past few months on concrete measures to counter violence and bullying in our schools."

In recent months, police have been alerted to several incidents, including a massive brawl involving students on Montreal's South Shore, an assault on a teacher in Laval and an attack on a student by four others.

As part of the province's plan, all schools must now have an emergency protocol for major violent events to be integrated with other plans and policies already in place.

TRAINING AND SUPPORT

Part of the new measures include student training starting at the pre-school level to develop personal, social and emotional skills.

"Our priority is to work to prevent violence and delinquency by offering our young people opportunities to occupy themselves in a positive and constructive way, both in and out of school," said Public Safety Minister François Bonnardel. "We want them to be able to choose their future and their success and to make a positive contribution to the Quebec of tomorrow."

The course will be mandatory and have themes of violence and mental health.

In addition, school staff will get training on prevention and intervention, including on sexual violence.

School service centres and school boards will also have a dedicated resource centre to coordinate parts of their plans.

The RENFORT helpline in Montreal will also be improved and spread across the province.

There will be a violence prevention week during the 2024-25 school year.