Glace Bay students seek donations for bullied teen

Some students from Glace Bay High School are rallying around a classmate who was bullied into lying down in a pool of water, while another student walked over his back.

The video, uploaded to Facebook on Thursday, showed Brett Corbett, a student with cerebral palsy, in a stream. Along with the teen who walked on him, the video showed several other students watching and taking videos.

Terri McEachern, Corbett’s mother, shared another video where the crowd can be heard yelling swear words at her son, taunting him and shouting “get in the water.”

After seeing the original video Thursday morning, Corbett’s classmates, Danielle Hinchey and Julia White, started collecting donations to buy new clothes and a video game for Corbett.

Some money together and get him the game. people around the school found out what we were doing and put money in and we now have enough to buy him his game along with clothes and shoes that were ruined due to the water. Thanks to everyone who put in money that’s amazing❤️

— Danielle (@dinhinch) November 8, 2018

“Brett needed to know not everyone is there to laugh at him and make fun of him. There is actually people here that care about him,” said White.

Hinchey said the video was “completely heartbreaking.”

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was seeing it,” she said.

Hinchey said they had raised over $200 at the school as of Friday afternoon. Other Glace Bay residents have also offered to make donations.

Brandon Jolie, a friend of McEachern, said he posted the original video because he was disgusted by what happened. He said the incident occurred on Tuesday. As of Friday evening, the video had been shared over 2,700 times and had over 1,500 comments, many stating their support for Corbett.

Jolie had a message for parents.

“I think we need to take this situation and make a change out of it. We need to look at our children and the lessons we are teaching, we need to play a more active role in their social life. Stuff like this happens because we don’t know what our kids are doing at school or with their friends,” he said.

McEachern said the school hasn’t said what it plans to do to stop the bullying. However, she said, a few students who appeared in the video have been suspended.

She said there is one big thing that needs to happen here: “Bullying really needs to stop.”

Attempts to reach an official at GBHS for comment were not successful. A spokesperson for the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education said “this type of behaviour will not be tolerated,” CBC Nova Scotia reported.

An anti-bullying rally, organized by resident Brandy Aucoin, was scheduled for Saturday at the Undercurrent Youth Centre in Glace Bay.

“I can’t stand around while someone is getting bullied. I was bullied all through elementary school and it ruined my self-confidence for life,” said Aucoin.