Canadian children appeal to Harper: Stop being a bully!







If ever we as Canadians become disenchanted with our government, we can at least look to the possibility of our youth having the energy and passion to change the future. A group of students from a suburban Catholic school in Ottawa- Ecoles des Voyageurs- had recently had a lesson on the negative effects of cyber-bullying.

Clearly the students had been paying attention to the lesson, because they were soon able to recognize this behaviour in the real world. The real life lesson came in the form of our own Prime Minister Harper’s recent attack ads on Justin Trudeau.

Natalie Casault’s Grade 5 class had come to her complaining that what they saw in the ads was mean spirited and unacceptable.

“He said, 'Yeah, they're really not nice, he did a charity and they're laughing at him and he looks like a clown and they're saying he's just a simple teacher and that's not fair. They can't do that, Madame, that's cyberbullying, “ said one concerned pupil to Madame Casault,who spoke to Joan Bryden of the Canadian Press May 16th. 

In response to viewing the ads, the students have been writing letters to Prime Minister Harper asking him to remove the Conservative attack ads on Justin Trudeau. The students have also come up with far more viable alternatives for our Prime Minister to consider moving forward.

“You know, there are better strategies, Mr. Prime Minister. You could talk to us about all the great things that you want to do for the country, instead” said one young boy.

The children raise a valid point about attack ads and their usefulness. If even children can recognize that this tactic is simply just plain mean, should we really be tolerating it on our television screens?

A Harris-Decima poll conducted between May 9th-12th has found that sixty-four percent who viewed the ads found them negative, so clearly being a bully hasn’t been paying off.  Perhaps Mr. Harper missed the fifth grade lesson on bullying, Where’s the dunce cap when you need one.


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