Student Rights Declaration

Your rights are protected legally by The Child and Family Services Act and the Ontario Human Rights Code.  At Pine River it is our job to ensure that you are supported in a safe environment, while protecting your human rights.

If there is ever a situation in which you feel your rights are being violated, please speak with a staff member immediately. If you feel that this is not enough to resolve the situation, staff will support you in filing a complaint using the “Client Grievance Form”. 

Your rights include freedom from:

• discrimination– an unjust distinction or unfavourable treatment on the grounds of race, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical abilities, or as outlined in the Ontario Human Rights Code.

• bullying– the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another. Bullying behaviours can be:

                        Physical – pushing, poking, kicking, hitting, biting, pinching, etc.

                        Verbal- name calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, threats, teasing, belittling.

                        Emotional- isolating others, tormenting, hiding belongings, ridicule, humiliation, intimidating, excluding, manipulating and coercion.

                        Sexual- unwanted physical contact, inappropriate touching, abusive comments, homophobic abuse

                        Online/cyber- posting on social media, sharing photos, sending inappropriate text messages, social exclusion

• harassment– a malicious comment or behaviour that is known or ought to be known to be unwelcome. The unwelcome comment or conduct usually happens more than once. Remember, it’s not the intention that matters, it’s the effect or impact on the person who feels harassed that counts.

• sexual harassment– in addition to the above definition, unwelcome behaviour or comment of a sexual nature, sexual solicitation and advances. Gender-based harassment is one type of sexual harassment, targeting someone for not following sex-role stereotypes. In some cases, one incident could be serious enough to be sexual harassment, and

• physical abuse– physical contact between students, or a student and staff, that results in your being hurt or injured.