Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) and the Six Nations Anti-Bullying Task Force are looking to recruit community members interested in being a part the anti-bullying task force.

Task Force Lead Jen Mt. Pleasant said that there were a few cases of bullying in local Six Nations schools and SNEC believed that the formation of the task force could benefit students, parents and the community as a whole.

"The task was originally formed in late 2019. There were some incidents going on in the community at the time where it was decided that a task force might be able to address those issues. So the task force itself was formed in response to bullying incidents that were taking place within our local schools as well as the community as a whole."

Mt. Pleasant also spoke on the adverse effects that bullying can have on people, especially in youth.

"Bullying is such a big issue because it can cause the victims a great deal of pain and mental anguish, especially in children and youth who don't yet have the proper tools to deal with the adverse impacts of being bullied," she added. "It will take a community wide effort to address and prevent bullying."

The task force plans to educate its members, as well as the community, to better deal with these bullying issues. It will focus on local schools and try to help create a better environment for all the students.

"They'll (task force members) look at these issues from all directions to get a good understanding of the root causes, what enables the behavior, what relevant program and services already exist in the community and what are the service gaps," Mt. Pleasant said. "Ultimately, what a task force produces is a list of recommendations on how a specific issue can addressed through prevention and education efforts. Each task force committee member plays a vital role in helping to address lateral violence and bullying."

Mt. Pleasant said the goal of the task force is to help stop bullying and lateral violence within the community. She said educating community members is key in solving this issues because "many people are not aware of what lateral violence is, many people are not aware that their behavior and actions can be considered a form of lateral violence or bullying.". Mt. Pleasant spoke on the community being multi-cultured with varying belief systems, community members still dealing with the impacts of Indian residential schools, as well as dealing with multiple forms of colonial violence. Mt. Pleasant said these are all examples of lateral violence that the community is facing and issues the task force hopes to deal with.

Meetings for the task force will be held bi-weekly via Zoom and committee members must have access to internet. Interested community members looking to be a part of the Anti Bullying Task Force can contact Mt. Pleasant at jennifermtpleasant@sixnations.ca or 519-770-6569.

Task Force Lead Jen Mt. Pleasant spoke with CJKS to talk about the the recruitment that's being done, why the task force was formed, and some of the goals they wish to accomplish within the community: