Family speaks out following racist incident at a Manitoulin Island public school

WARNING: Details in this story may be upsetting for some to read.

Lucy Pahpeguish says her 11-year-old son Kashtyn was a victim of racial discrimination and assault at his school on Manitoulin Island last week.

Pahpeguish said the incident took place Feb. 16 at Little Current Public School.

“He said they’re calling me the N-word," she said.

"You know, he broke down and cried. He’s like, you know, they pulled my hair and they pulled him and they were saying 'get back in you cage monkey.' Just so upsetting.”

Her son told her that incidents of bullying have happened before. Pahpeguish said she reached out to the school's principal the next day and also reported the incident to the Ontario Provincial Police.

Kimberly Pahpeguish, Kashtyn’s aunt, said the school principal called them Feb. 18 to say "the teachers would be initiating a presentation on social media, memes, and offensive language."

“Nowhere in that conversation did she talk about racial discrimination or physical assaults,” she said.

Kimberly Pahpeguish wrote to the school board and was told Kashtyn should return to school for a restorative justice circle. But she said it's too soon.

“It’s too early for a restorative justice circle," she said.

"There needs to be some personal healing happening and they need to apply their policies and then maybe we can sit down in the same room.”

In a statement to CTV News, Rainbow District School Board spokesperson Nicole Charette said she couldn't comment on any specific situation or incident.

'They are investigated and acted upon'

“Rainbow District School Board does not tolerate or condone racism or any form of bullying. Incidents are taken seriously," Charette said in the statement.

"They are investigated and acted upon in accordance with our code of conduct. Police are also called, as appropriate. There are consequences for unacceptable behaviour. We also focus on ensuring that students understand why their actions were hurtful and harmful with the goal of preventing future occurrences. Making amends is part of the learning process and an important step in restoring a safe learning environment for all students.”

Bullying experts say having a positive school environment is important for young people to develop positive social skills.

“Overall research shows it develops that positive community and enhance young people's social and emotional learning skills," said Billy Byrd, president of the Canadian Safe School Network.

"By that we teach them about how to be emotive, how to be supportive, how to be caring, how to look out for each other. And that starts at the home, but at schools we have to be sure that we’re modeling for young people what they need.”

Byrd added that teaching kids to stand up to bullying can often stop it in its tracks.

“Research has shown that if young people intervene, most often we can stop bullying in less than 10 seconds," he said.

"That doesn’t mean it's gone away, it doesn’t mean that we don’t need to do all those other things … It's like being an upstanding citizen and that’s why we need these young people to be upstanding citizens to stand up for those that are in the community.”

Byrd said the first thing to do to resolve bullying is recognition. He said we need to believe young people when they say they’re being picked on and offer the appropriate supports.