Bullying is still a 'systemic' issue at St. Michael's College School: report

Bullying continues to be a "systemic" issue at a private Toronto school rocked by allegations of sexual assault despite measures introduced in the wake of the scandal, says a report that examined culture at the all-boys Catholic institution.

The report released Thursday from an independent committee found no significant change in rates of student bullying and victimizationat St. Michael's College School, where seven students were chargedlast fall in connection with alleged incidents that took place oncampus.

"Bullying and other demeaning behaviour do represent a systemic issue at the school, albeit in numbers comparable to the experiencesof children of similar age across the country," the committeewrote.

The school made headlines in November as police investigated an alleged sexual assault recorded on video and shared on social media.

Investigators eventually laid charges in two alleged sexual assaults and one assault, all involving one of the institution's football teams.

'School failed to ensure that they felt safe'

The scandal triggered a national conversation on bullying and how it is dealt with in schools. St. Michael's tasked the committee withthe review shortly after.

The sweeping 123-page report titled "A Time for Renewal" offered 36 recommendations, including developing a comprehensivestrategy to address bullying and robust staff training to deal withthe issue.

The school said it is committed to adopting the recommendations.

"We are deeply concerned that bullying is a systemic issue,"school president Rev. Andrew Leung said in a statement. "Our goalremains unwavering to ensure the safety and well-being of our students."

The committee found bullying is a school-wide problem. That conclusion was supported by the findings from surveys of currentstudents, alumni, staff, former staff and parents.

Those found that 206 boys about one in five students reported they had been bullied during their time at school.

'Fix this bullying issue now'

"It hasn't really changed," one student wrote.

"Fix this bullying issue now and stop being neglectful and lazy," another wrote.

Surveys found the number of students who reported witnessing bullying went down from last fall to this spring, the committeesaid, suggesting bullying may have become more covert.

Of those who were bullied, 70 boys said the bullying lasted ayear or longer. Fifty-four boys reported being "sexually bullied."

The committee also found 88 students "reported that they had been bullied because of their race or religion." And three out offour bullied boys reported subsequent mental health issues thatincluded anger, sadness, difficulties at school, and feeling helpless.

"This chronic bullying may be explained by the school's inability to fully identify and effectively address bullying," the committee said.

While bullying was clearly a problem, the committee found hazing was not an issue, although it did exist. The committee said it wanted the school to stamp out mild forms of initiation because it is demeaning.

The committee recommended the school write or rewrite a number ofpolicies, codes of conduct and student handbooks that can be easilyaccessed by students, teachers, coaches and parents.

It also recommended the school hire more women as teachers, staff and in leadership roles.

Video 'appeared to show a sexual assault involving a group'

"In the context of an all-boys school especially where hyper or toxic masculinity has been identified as an issue to be mindfulof, female teachers and administrators provide much neededperspective," it wrote.

Seven students were eventually charged last fall with offencesthat included sexual assault with a weapon, gang sexual assault andassault for three incidents involving members of one of the school'sfootball teams. The charges against one have since been dropped.

Two police sources have said one of the alleged incidents involved a group of students on a football team pinning down anotherstudent and allegedly sexually assaulting him with a broom handle.

The report offered further details on what allegedly happened.

It said the school received a video on Nov. 12 that "appeared to show a sexual assault involving a group of boys."

School should have reported allegations sooner: committee

Around noon the next day, staff identified those in the video as students at the school. On Nov. 14, the school told police about the alleged sex assault.

The committee said the school should have reported criminalallegations to police as soon as it became aware of them, ratherthan wait 36 hours to allow the alleged victim to discuss the issuewith his mother who was out of town. It suggested the school developprotocols with police on how to deal with alleged criminal acts.

The report also said an alleged assault on Sept. 18 involvedstudents allegedly "striking a student on the buttocks with a broomstick."

Four of the students charged were expelled, while the other three withdrew from the school in the wake of the allegations that came to light. Four other students were also expelled.

The school's top two administrators also resigned and several sports teams' seasons were cancelled.