Regina student bullied, afraid to go back to school

A third grader in Regina says she's not looking forward to going back to school Tuesday because she's afraid of being bullied.

Shae Loosemore, 8, said she's been teased since kindergarten by other students in her class.

She said other children have been calling her names that have affected her self-esteem.

"They call me fat, ugly, stupid and a lot of others that I can't explain because it will make me cry," said Loosemore.

The comments hurt her so much that she sometimes has suicidal thoughts, she said.

"I really feel like I want to kill myself," said Loosemore. "Sometimes when my daddy is barbecuing I grab my skipping rope and I tie a knot — I keep on saying 'no' because I don't want to die, but I'm just scared to go back to school."

Loosemore's mother, Selen Zerger said she noticed her daughter becoming depressed about a year-and-a-half ago.

But Zerger said Loosemore doesn't always tell her when the bullying happens because some of the children threatened to hurt her family if she told on them.

For the past six months Zerger has been taking the eight-year-old to see a counsellor.

"When children start talking like that, it's very serious and you need to worry about it," said Zerger. "Even if they're only speaking it, don't underestimate it. Some parents, they underestimate it and they don't see the signs." 

Zerger hopes therapy will help Loosemore become more confident and give her the tools to speak out if the bullying keeps happening.

"What someone says are only words and the words hurt you, but you need to put a barrier up and not listen to the words and tell somebody," she said.  "It's hard when you're eight years old because you want to be liked by everybody."

The Regina Public School Board said it takes bullying very seriously and encourages students to report the behaviour to an adult.

"We have a number of programs in all Regina public schools that address bullying and harassment or anything that might make a student feel like they don't belong or feel like they're not respected," said Terry Lazarou, with the Regina Public School Board.

Lazarou said the school assesses the situation, and based on the severity of the case, they contact parents and higher authorities.