A Brighter Future

As the bell rings and resonates through out the halls of Princess Margaret Secondary, swarms of adolescents, mostly Caucasian, with a few aboriginal and East Indians in the mix, flow through the doors of their previous classroom. With a spring in each individuals step and a glowing expression of jubilance upon their faces, each student walks to there next class while taking part in there own kind of revelry. It’s an amazing atmosphere and being located in the small town of Penticton, B.C., one gets a real sense of community within these walls. Such a strong sense in fact, that when pressed by the topic of Bullying, the problem is actually, NOT a problem.

When asked about the topic, the school principle, Mr. Grady responded saying “Here at Princess Margaret, we pride our selves on the lack of bullying cases that have been found and we continue to make our students aware that bullying is wrong.” A student, Andrew Livsey agrees, “You’re a moron if you think bullying is a problem here. People that think there getting bullied just have a ridiculous lack of humour!” One may ask the question. “Well, how does this school create such a blissful, social environment, while many other schools in Canada are struggling?” The answer, as mentioned before, is community.

Through out the year, Princess Margaret holds many events that are uncommonly found in Canadian schools. There is Mr. Maggie, which puts five of Princess Margaret’s most distinguished men in a contest to win the affection of four judges, as well as Western week, were each day there’s new western themed event. Some may say that these events are a waste of time, and decrease productivity. However, this just may, be the secret to Princess Margaret’s success on anti-bullying. For every event that is held at Princess Margaret is a bonding experience for the whole school. Pink Day is actually, a whole event dedicated to the anti-bullying cause. This is when the whole school wears pink in order eradicate bullying. However, when one talks to the students the general consensus seems to be, that bullying has been eradicated, and now the day is more a celebration of that.

Princess Margaret is on the forefront of the anti-bullying movement and is an institution that every school in Canada should model themselves after. With a blissful atmosphere and school bonding events, Princess Margaret is a glimpse at the brighter future.