École Deer Meadow School (EDMS) students attended a presentation on bullying March 5, facilitated by Tad Milmine in partnership with Olds RCMP and Chinook Arch Victim's Services.
All 480 students in the school attended, according to EDMS principal Carey Collin.
Attendance at the presentation for parents was equally impressive.
"The parent presentation was Tad's best attended parent presentation," Collin says. "His previous high mark was 50 parents in Camrose. We had around 60."
Milmine grew up in Ontario where he had a very sad life, confined to the basement by his bullying stepmother and alcoholic father. On top of that, Milmine, a lonely, introverted child, was also gay.
He was bullied all the way through elementary school and high school and suffered from mental illness.
In addition, Milmine was sexually abused by an older man. He contemplated harming himself — even committing suicide.
Fortunately, Milmine's life changed when he got older.
All his life, Milmine had dreamed of being a police officer. Eventually, that dream became a reality.
In 2011, he read about an Ottawa man who committed suicide after years of bullying and mental illness. Drawing parallels between that man's life and his own, Milmine decided to begin speaking to schools in an effort to prevent bullying and more tragedies.
Students who attended the session were given the opportunity to jot down their reactions to the presentation. Here are a few of those reactions:
"This presentation was well done. He taught me and many others not to sit around and be a by-stander, stand up and do what's right."
"If you or someone else was getting bullied that you need to tell someone and not keep it to yourself."
"I thought that the presentation definitely brought a different perspective of life to me. It taught me not only to be kind but to stand up to others and make other people's day better when you notice that their day isn't going well."
Collin got some pointers from the session as well. Here are some of his thoughts:
"For bullies (there are) no more excuses. You cannot say 'I was just having fun' or 'it was just a joke.' And you can't say that the adults are just picking on you if your behaviour to others is unacceptable," Collin wrote.
"This is a biggie, come to school every day to make the best of your learning. People who bully (adults and kids) have issues too — they start each day thinking of how to do harm to others, not how to be their best self.
"To anybody being mistreated, you're not the only one.
"To all of us stand-byers, it's time we be the stronger voice and be stand-uppers. All of our words have consequences (positive and negative). How easy is it to say 'hi.'"
Milmine's website can be accessed at www.bullyingendshere.ca.
