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Local teacher removed from board meeting states her case on social media – CambridgeToday

Published

4 months ago

January 21, 2022

Harry Miller

A local teacher is responding on social media after being removed from a Waterloo Region District School Board meeting Monday after accusations of using transphobic language in her presentation.

Teacher Carolyn Burjoski was a delegation to the board and had been presenting her concerns that some books available in school libraries are inappropriate for children.

Burjoski said in the nearly two-minute video on her Twitter page, that she was reading excerpts from children’s books and commenting on their age appropriateness when she was halted shortly after she began her presentation and was later ejected from the meeting.

“The following morning, HR informed me that I was immediately assigned to home, pending a formal investigation and banned from contacting my colleagues and students,” she said. “This was particularly upsetting to me because I love my students and I have not seen them since December. When my students excitedly returned to school on Tuesday – the first day of in-class learning after yet another lockdown – their teacher was not there, and they did not know why.”

Burjoski also gave an interview to the National Post newspaper.

“I am not a transphobic person. It’s crazy that just because you ask a question, the first thing people do is call you that,” she told the National Post.

Burjoski said she has been ‘silenced’ and ‘punished’ after her presentation to the board.

“Meanwhile, board members have taken to radio, television, social media to grossly misrepresent my remarks. I feel bullied, slandered and abused. The school board has removed the video of the meeting from their YouTube channel, so people are not able to hear what I actually said.”

Burjoski said that the majority of her remarks was her reading excerpts from two books that are available to any young child who is able to read the few comments that she expressed concerns with about age inappropriate sexual content.

“I did not and do not question the rights of trans persons to exist in any way. I fully support the human rights of transgender people. I have promoted human rights throughout my entire life, and my career has been about valuing every face I look into. This isn’t just about me. It’s about all of us. Cancel culture needs to stop. We need to recover our ability to listen to each other and to speak with one another with open minds. Respectful dialogue is the core of democracy.”

Waterloo Region District School Board Chair Scott Piatkowski said earlier this week that he stands behind the decision to remove Burjoski from the meeting.

“It was unfortunate that it was necessary, but it was necessary,” he said, “I’m hearing from school board chairs and other boards that they would not have allowed that either. I’m hearing from past chairs of this board,” he added.

The school board issued a statement of its own Thursday, expressing “deep regret for any harm caused to the transgender community.”

“As a school board, we are guided by the Ontario Human Rights Code and committed to doing our best so that all students are affirmed in their identity and see themselves reflected in their learning environment,” the board said. “The Board is committed to upholding the values and principles set out in Board’s Equity and Inclusion Policy 1008 and the Board’s Human Rights Policy 1017. The Board is committed to providing a safe, inclusive environment free from inequity, discrimination and harassment.”

“The video of the meeting was not posted as the Board was concerned about potential violations to the Code and to the harm that could affect our students, staff and communities in Waterloo Region.”

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Uvalde School Shooting Sparks Cries For Action Across Social Media – BNN

Published

11 hours ago

May 25, 2022

Harry Miller

(Bloomberg) — With former President Donald Trump scheduled to speak at the NRA’s National Meeting this Friday in Houston, in the same state where 19 children and two teachers were killed at the hands of an 18-year old gunman who stormed their school, rallying cries for gun control can be heard across social media.Former President Barack Obama posted a string of tweets that began,“It’s long past time for action, any kind of action. And it’s another tragedy—a quieter but no less tragic one—for families to wait another day.” He added, “Across the country, parents are putting their children to bed, reading stories, singing lullabies—and in the back of their minds, they’re worried about what might happen tomorrow after they drop their kids off at school, or take them to a grocery store or any other public space.”

From LeBron James to Mia Farrow, an outpouring of grief from celebrities followed an emotionally charged speech by Golden State Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr who called a press conference before tonight’s NBA semifinals game to express outrage at the “50 senators” who have failed to move on a House bill on common-sense gun safety reforms that President Biden is ready to sign into law.Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James shared Kerr’s remarks and tweeted, “My thoughts and prayers goes out to the families of love ones loss & injured at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX! Like when is enough enough man!!! These are kids and we keep putting them in harms way at school. Like seriously “AT SCHOOL” where it’s suppose to be the safest!” Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey, who was born in Uvalde and runs a foundation to help high school students in Texas, asked all Americans to take action “so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured.”

Other celebrities taking to Twitter to share their grief include human rights activist George Takei who co-starred in “Star Trek: The Original Series.” He tweeted, “14 children and 1 teacher. There are no words. And there are no actions ever taken.” National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman wrote, “It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity—it’s inhumanity.” Actress Mia Farrow retweeted Gorman and said, “Don’t anyone dare do “thoughts and prayers”. We are way past that. We need reasonable gun legislation like every other rational country.And late night talk show host James Corden commented on how shocked he is by America’s inability to act when it comes to gun control. “It doesn’t make sense to me. It doesn’t reflect the country that I think America is. The America I’ve always admired. You have a problem, you solve it. You’re on the forefront of medicine, of technology, of innovation. When there’s a world war, you are the ones we turn to. Yet on this issue America is one of the most backward places in the world.”Cordon noted this year there have been no school shootings in England, Japan, and Australia, but this year there have been 27 school shootings in America and 212 mass shootings and we are just five months into the year.

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/REPEAT — Media Advisory – Minister Mendicino to make a funding announcement/ – Canada NewsWire

Published

12 hours ago

May 25, 2022

Harry Miller

OTTAWA, ON, May 24, 2022 /CNW/ – Members of the media are invited to join the Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, for a funding announcement under the Crime Prevention Action Fund to underscore the Government of Canada’s efforts to keep Canadian youth safe in Halifax and surrounding communities.

He will be joined by Lena Metlege Diab, Member of Parliament for Halifax West-Nova Scotia.

Following the announcement, Minister Mendicino and MP Diab will take questions from the media.

Date
Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Time
9:00 a.m. ADT

Location
YWCA Halifax
358 Herring Cove Road
Spryfield, Nova Scotia

Media representatives who wish to attend the event must arrive at least 15 minutes in advance to sign in and present photo ID and credentials.

Media can dial-in by using the numbers below. Media are encouraged to dial-in 15 minutes before the start of the press conference.

Participant dial-in numbers: 1-866-206-0153 / 613-954-9003
Access Code: 9504354#

Media and guests are asked to respect local physical distancing guidelines. Participants will be required to share their name and phone number for possible contact tracing. Wearing masks is recommended, especially when not able to maintain physical distance.

Public health protocols are in effect: please stay home if you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed here: Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Government of Nova Scotia, Canada, practice good hand washing and other hygiene steps, as well as physical distancing.

SOURCE Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada

For further information: Audrey Champoux, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Public Safety, [email protected]; Media Relations, Public Safety Canada, 613-991-0657, [email protected]

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Analysis: Media coverage of Texas school massacre invokes Sandy Hook – CNN

Published

18 hours ago

May 25, 2022

Harry Miller

New York (CNN Business)A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.

“Mass shootings have become America’s copy and paste tragedy,” Politico’s Tyler Weyant wrote Tuesday evening. “We change the place, the town, the number of dead and injured. But the constant is lives lost, people who cannot be brought back, and the nation is left in a numb daze.”

At least, until, it happens again. In this case, it only took 10 days from the last slaughter for another spasm of senseless violence and terror to force the nation to go through the motions once again.

It’s all so predictable and formulaic at this point. First come the initial reports of a shooting, then details about fatalities and injuries, then details about the shooter and motive, and finally the tributes to the dead. All the while, there are widespread calls for the US to take some — any — action to stop these regular massacres from occurring while Fox personalities and GOP leaders insist the shooting shouldn’t be “politicized.”

“We perform this same skit every time,” pediatrician and Democratic congressional candidate Dr. Annie Andrews tweeted. “You say your thing. I say my thing. A few more people join the movement. It’s not working.”

I realize that, at this point, even pointing out the fact that we are stuck in this endless loop is cliche. But I can’t think of anything new or unique to say — and I honestly haven’t seen a single original point made in the past few hours. Years and years of these horrific acts have collectively drained us of any groundbreaking observations. Everything is just recycled. Recycled from the last shooting and the shooting before that.

“Make no mistake about it, nothing is done, and nothing is ever done,” Don Lemon said on CNN Tuesday night. “And we’re going to be back here. Grieving again, over another town.”

“This,” Lemon added, “is where we are right now.”

Stelter’s counterpoint

BRIAN STELTER WRITES:

I wish people would stop saying “there are no words.” There are so many words. Inhuman. Grotesque. Shameful.

I worry that rote news coverage and cliche reactions may unintentionally sanitize this sickening violence.

I wonder if words can slice through the cliches. Words like “destroy.” Heavy weaponry doesn’t just wound victims. These weapons destroy bodies. Local reporters on the scene say that family members are being asked to provide DNA samples to help identify the kids. “The agonized screams of family members are audible from the parking lot,” Niki Griswold of the Austin American-Statesman reported.

I want everyone to know that reality. I want answers to questions that are painful even to ask. What were the victims at Robb Elementary doing in the final peaceful minutes of their lives? What were they thinking when they heard loud noises down the hall? Did they recognize the sounds as gunshots? Did they fear for their lives? Did they cry out for their moms? For their dads? What did they feel in those final seconds?

There are plenty of words. We just have to use them.

“It’s almost like an instant replay of Sandy Hook”

“While watching the death toll rise” in Uvalde, “one father of a Sandy Hook victim felt defeated,” NYT reporter Elizabeth Williamson wrote Tuesday night. She spoke with Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse Lewis, 6, was killed in 2012, and who said he “felt compelled” to watch the news coverage. “It’s almost like an instant replay of Sandy Hook,” he told Williamson. “That replay, he predicted, would include a revived debate over gun legislation…”

Local coverage from San Antonio

BRIAN STELTER WRITES:

The San Antonio Express-News, the daily newspaper closest to Uvalde, led with the fact that this is “one of the deadliest school shootings in modern U.S. history.” The story is full of local details: “It was also an award day at Robb Elementary,” since the end of the school year was coming up.

The paper also noted that this is “the second mass shooting in less than five years in the San Antonio area. In November 2017, a gunman armed with an assault-style rifle killed 26 parishioners at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, about 35 miles southeast of San Antonio…”

On board Air Force One

President Biden learned of the school shooting while flying back from Asia aboard Air Force One. Pool reporters on the plane were without WiFi and unaware of the news until press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre came back to the press cabin and said Biden would be speaking at the WH upon landing. Reporters turned on the in-flight TVs to see CNN’s live coverage. Per CNN’s MJ Lee, “a decision was made to make a ‘wire call’ — a rare phone call using the phone in the press cabin to alert the wires and news organizations of breaking news. While much of the news we were being told in the air had already been shared on the ground, reporters agreed — given the gravity of the news — upon a joint statement that would be read and disseminated to wires and news networks.”

All the major networks showed Biden’s prime time address live. He asked: “Where in God’s name is our backbone?”

Right-wing media immediately calls for more guns

The conversation in right-wing media immediately turned to calling for armed guards to protect schools. In other words, more guns. Pundits and personalities on Fox repeatedly suggested that funding allocated to schools to protect against Covid should be spent on security personnel. Meanwhile, personalities attacked those who called for gun control measures. After Biden did so in his address to the nation, Tucker Carlson attacked him in the most vicious terms. “The President of the United States, frail, confused, bitterly partisan, desecrating the memory of recently murdered children with tired talking points of the Democratic Party,” Carlson said, “dividing the country in a moment of deep pain…”

TV notes and quotes

— CNN will remain live all night and through the morning, with some anchors on the scene in Texas…

— Fox News preempted the 11pm comedy show “Gutfeld” for additional live coverage of the massacre…

— Savannah Guthrie will co-anchor Wednesday’s “Today” from Uvalde. Other NBC and MSNBC anchors en route to Texas include Lester Holt, Tom Llamas, José Díaz-Balart, and Ali Velshi…

— Tony Dokoupil will co-anchor “CBS Mornings” from Uvalde…

— The season finale of “FBI” was pulled by CBS “given that it involves the team preventing a school shooting,” Deadline reports…

— Speaking of CBS, James Corden said on Tuesday’s “Late Late Show” that “this doesn’t reflect the country that I think America is. The America I’ve always admired…”

“It only gets worse”

WaPo reporter John Woodrow Cox, author of “Children Under Fire,” said he has been writing “almost exclusively about this subject — children who are shot to death or who survive and are forever broken — for more than five years.” He said “this feeling of horror, of helplessness, of nausea, of whatever the hell it is — it only gets worse after each day like this day.”

He pointed out on Twitter that “more than 300,000 students in K-12 schools have experienced gun violence on their campuses since Columbine.” That’s the sort of perspective that needs to be infused into the news coverage this week…

>> More big picture context: “‘Active shooter’ incidents jumped more than 50% last year, FBI report finds…”

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