Tracy Vaillancourt is passionate about putting a stop to bullying. “I get calls from adults who still feel worthless over what someone did to them in the fifth grade. It permeates every part of their lives,” says the Offord Centre psychologist.
Armed with $4.6 million in funding, including a $1 million grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Dr. Vaillancourt is spearheading a five-year pilot project that will enlist physicians, teachers, youth workers, policy makers and others in a community-wide effort to find solutions.
Almost one in three school-aged children is affected by bullying, and one in 10 kids are bullied on a daily basis. “We want everyone who deals with children to be able to identify it and come up with good strategies to deal with it. Kids’ livelihoods are at stake.”
