Anti-Bullying

Flag of Ukraine

During the last week of March, my Social Studies students asked me about the recent developments in Ukraine.  They had watched several news reports on TV and listened to segments on CBC Radio and wanted me to clarify a few things.  The local radio station broadcasts CBC Radio news in English and Inuktitut.  They also wanted to know how I felt about the whole situation because I am Ukrainian.

            

Beginning in November 2013, protesters took to the streets of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, to protest then President Viktor Yanukovych's decision not to sign a political association and free trade agreement with the European Union.  He instead chose to sign a similar agreement with Russia, dubbed the Ukrainian-Russian Action Plan, securing $15 billion USD in loans and cheaper gas prices.  This angered the people of western Ukraine, seeing it as an affront to maintaining political and economical independence from Russian meddling.  When Yanukovych refused to reverse his decision, the protests only intensified and spread to other cities in western Ukraine, with people voicing their displeasure over corruption, a weak economy, lack of free speech, and Yanukovych's autocratic leadership.

            

The crisis escalated in the first two months of 2014.  Yanukovych quickly passed anti-protest laws and ordered the police in Kyiv to clear the encamped protesters from the city centre by force (ie. water cannons, rubber & live bullets).  Instead, the protesters fought back, erecting barricades, and defending their ground with sticks, bats, and petrol bombs.  They even attacked and occupied government buildings for days, demanding the immediate resignation of Yanukovych and his government.  Repealing the anti-protest laws and reaching an agreement with the political opposition to form a unity government in late February had little effect.  In the end, Yanukovych was forced to flee the capital, and later the country, when his presidential palace guards abandoned their posts and a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Ukrainian parliament.  A new interim president was elected by parliament and new presidential elections were set for May, 2014.  Unfortunately, this would not be the end of the crisis.  Russia became involved by sendingits military into the Crimean peninsula and annexing the land shortly thereafter.  There is now a constant threat of invasion of eastern Ukraine, with thousands of Russian soldiers, tanks, aircraft, and artillery stationed along the border.                  

Historically, Western Europe and Russia have engaged in a tug-of-war over the Ukrainian homeland.  The country is located just to the north of the Black Sea and is wedged between the European Union and Russia.  Russia, in particular, has a long history of exerting direct dominance and influence over Ukraine and its people, most recently when it was a part of the Soviet Union for 70 years.  The Ukrainian language and culture were heavily suppressed during this time but persevered and experienced a revival after the dissolution.  However, a split was created; Ukrainian is mostly spoken in the western part of the country, while Russian is the language of choice in the east.  Russian speaking Ukrainians hold strong emotional ties to Russia while Ukrainians in the western half of the country wish to keep the mother tongue and culture from disappearing.  They don't want it replaced by anything Russian.  This view is also held by many Ukrainian-Canadians who emigrated to Canada during the Second World War.

            

I did my best to briefly explain everything I've mentioned above to my students without confusion.  I stated that I was glad that Yanukovych was out of office but worried about the recent actions of Russia.  I wasn't glad that they invaded and annexed Crimea, even though the peninsula was given to Ukraine as a gift in 1954.  The constant threats of invading eastern Ukraine were also troubling.  If it were to happen, what would stop Russian forces from invading the western part of the country where my distant family relatives live?  I added that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was acting like a greedy bully, unsatisfied with the amount of land he already controls (17,098,242km²), lusting for more, and not wanting a former Soviet republic to act fully independent.  I hope a peaceful solution can be found, but at the same time, I wonder if another Crimean War is necessary to restore the balance of power.

            

My Social Studies students completed a What In The World? article about the topic on March 31st.  What In The World? is a current events resource published monthly by LesPlan, a Canadian-owned education company.  Each monthly issue contains a collection of the top national and international news stories of the previous month.                  

            

On the topic of bullying, April 9th was the Day of Pink, "the International Day against Bullying, Discrimination, Homophobia and Transphobia in schools and communities."  To celebrate diversity and to take a stand against bullying, everyone at Inuujaq School was encouraged to wear pink.  Unfortunately, my red dress shirt and tie was the closest to pink I had to wear.  Spirit Team Activities were held in and around the school after lunch.

            

At 1:30, everyone assembled in their assigned spirit teams in front of the school.  It was a bright sunny day, with some clouds in the sky, and a little windy.  Selected team members held up large colourful signs to rally their comrades.  Once the teams were formed, the round robin began.  There were five stations: soccer-baseball, relay games, untangle, talk with elders, and snack time.  Teams were allotted 25 minutes per station.

            

The first station my spirit team (Rabbits) went to was the soccer-baseball game out on the ice.  We would be playing against the Ptarmigans.  I watched the game on the sidelines, taking pictures and providing moral support for my team.  There was a lot of kicking, running, catching, and shouting.  The game was close but unfortunately, we lost by three points.

            

The next station for team Rabbit was the relay race; our opponents were the Eagles.  Team members had to run around a pylon some distance away while balancing a shuttlecock on a badminton racket.  It was exactly like an egg-and-spoon race but with different items.  I think if we used eggs, they may have been lost in the deep snow if ever dropped.  We played a few rounds and in the end, team Rabbit came out on top!

            

After visiting the snack time station, we headed over to the elder's room where students received a lecture on bullying, its negative characteristics, why it's wrong, and what to do if you're being bullied or if someone you know is being bullied.  While the elder spoke in Inuktitut, I did my best to pick out any familiar words.  I recognized the Inuktitut words for 'mother', 'father', 'teacher', 'school', 'sorry', and maybe a few others.  From this, I assumed she was advising students to not stay silent and tell their parents or a teacher if they're being bullied at school.

            

The last station was the untangle game where spirit team members randomly grab each others' hands and try to untangle themselves into a circle without letting go.  The team that could do it in the least amount of time was the winner.  We played two rounds against the Killer Whales and won both times.  For the third and last round, we tried one massive untangle with both teams but ended up with two locked circles.  After a quick fix, we were able to form one large circle.  We celebrated quickly because the bell rang just a few minutes after.  All-in-all, it was a very interesting afternoon. 
  

Spirit Teams on Ice.

And finally, family and friends have asked me several times about the cost of food in Arctic Bay.  Obviously, it is more expensive then down south, but to be honest, I don't really look hard enough to remember the exact prices of the majority of items on sale.  I just look, debate, take, pay, and go.  However, there are a few items that come to mind.  For example, a new DVD release costs $40 and a used DVD is only $15.  A 2-litre carton of milk is $7.50, soft drinks are $2 a can, bottled water hovers around $4, and a Delissio pizza costs $15.  A whole smoked ham from Best Value (think No-Name brand) is $20 while a higher quality ham can reach up to $45.  The prices I have listed are from the Northern Store.  You can buy the same items that are sold down south but you have to be prepared to pay for markup.  There are other options like Food Mail, or if you're a southerner like me, convince family members to send you care packages once in a while through First Air.