P.E.I.'s child and youth advocate fears conclusions in Jenkins report too broad

Prince Edward Island’s child and youth advocate says the recently released Jenkins report identified some “cracks” in the province's school system, but he fears it also made some broad conclusions in order to assure the public that students are safe.

The P.E.I. government ordered the third-party review by former provincial chief justice David Jenkins after it was revealed that former substitute teacher Matthew Craswell had sexually touched students. Craswell pleaded guilty to touching students at two separate primary schools — incidents that only came to light during an RCMP investigation into unrelated child pornography charges. 

Jenkins was tasked with examining current education system policies, identifying gaps and recommending changes. His report ultimately concludes that sexual misconduct isn't rampant in Island schools, and that staff and officials did the best they could given the limited information they had at the time.

“What [Jenkins] examined was really one point, and then said, ‘the system is working reasonably well, there's no need to amend legislation,” Bernstein said in an interview with CBC News.

“I thought his recommendations were weak because … he didn't want to move into areas in which he felt he wasn't entirely competent.”

Bernstein said Jenkins's conclusion that schools are safe places for children was not one the former chief justice was qualified to make.

He said there are other types of threats to children, citing that calls to the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate about school-related incidents like bullying are up.

He's also concerned that Jenkins didn't speak to children for his report.

“It seems to be more focused on the institutional protectionism," Bernstein said. "He finds that there are deficits, but then says things are working well.” 

Bernstein said calls to his office related to education spiked from 17 per cent to 33 per cent over the last year. He attributed that jump to a willingness to both people's increased willingness to report and an increase in incidents.

“When students know that they have rights, that something isn't normative, they will speak up,” he said. 

Bernstein had declined Jenkins's invitation to participate in the report, indicating that he reserved the right to conduct his own investigation.

He said speaking to the child and youth advocate is not a substitute for speaking directly to children.

“I just see too many situations where children are speaking to us and … the picture that's being presented in this report is not consistent with the reality that we see on a day-to-day basis.”