Anti-bullying rally organizers say they were punished

Students at Leo Hayes High School in Fredericton who participated in an anti-bullying rally last week said Wednesday that their principal has done more to punish them than he has bullies.

Principal Kevin Pottle came under fire at the protest just off school grounds last Friday. The students wanted tougher action over the case of a Grade 10 student who left the school because he was bullied by an ex-girlfriend.

"Monday he just said ... 'You're suspended for the day, you'll serve your detentions whether you want to or not and you lost your grad rights, flat out," said Grade 12 student Chelsea McGarrigle, who helped organize last week's rally.

Pottle said that harsh punishment of bullies doesn't resolve the bullying.

On Wednesday he addressed an assembly organized by the anti-bullying student group, saying that action is being taken against bullying even if it doesn't involve harsh measures.

"Students may look at it and think nothing was done. In all likelihood they're not aware of what was done ... It's not about hitting them with a hammer in the belief that that hammer is going to change them," Pottle  said.

Kicking bullies out of school doesn't help them gain control of their lives, he said.

He acknowledged that some students got detentions for missing classes, but said that was their only punishment.

"To date there has been no student suspended. No student has been told they cannot attend their prom or any other Grade 12 activity," he said.