THUNDER BAY -- With fears surrounding an alleged racially motivated sexual assault late last year on a First Nations woman, the principal of Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School is taking a safety-first approach.
On Monday, as students returned to school, the school principal held an assembly to reinforce the need for the teenagers to look out for each other and gave the female students a pocket alarm in case they find themselves in a dangerous situation.
Several male students took the devices, which emit a powerful alarm, as well.
“I think that as DFC, we get our kids from the North and the school and the staff have to act like a parent and I think it’s important that we take extra steps to see that our kids are looked after and they know they have another thing to keep them safe,” Jonathon Kakagemic said on Friday.
The police were also on hand at the assembly, more as a reinforcement than anything else, he added.
“We need to believe in our police force. They’re there to serve and protect and that’s what I tell our kids. They’re there to keep us safe and if we have trouble, we have to go to them because that’s their job,” he said.
The alarms, provided by the Ontario Native Women’s Association, were not given out in fear of any backlash from the ongoing Idle No More protests, which have drawn out strong opinions about the plight of Aboriginals in Canada.
“No. Idle No More is a totally different subject, event that’s happening in our country. That’s something we also talked about. They need to be aware what’s happening and we’re bringing people in to talk to them, just to get our kids to form their own opinion,” he said.
