Dawson students complain about lack of counselling
College’s director says criticisms ‘uncalled for’
JEREMY DELMAN CUP QUEBEC BUREAU CHIEF
MONTREAL (CUP) — Dawson College students say that days after a shooting that left one of their classmates dead and four others in critical condition, they still don’t know where to go for help.
Though Montreal police have been widely praised for their quick response to the Sept. 13 incident, students say that after being evacuated from the school, they were not told about a safe space at nearby Concordia University where counselling services were available.
Michelle Ayoub was locked in Dawson’s radio station for three hours on Wednesday afternoon, unsure of whether the shots and screams outside the door were just a prank. When the police finally found her, she and her friends were led out of the school after being searched and questioned. Then they just dissolved into the crowd of onlookers.
“Nobody seemed to know what to do,” she said. “We only heard about Concordia accepting students from a journalist.”
In the days since the shooting she has been interviewed on television, radio, and for dozens of newspapers. But she has not been contacted by school officials and does not know who to call for counselling.
“Sure, the school wasn’t prepared for something like this, but you have to think that two days later they would have stepped up to the plate,” she said, noting that she does not even know when classes will resume.
Melanie Hotchkiss, president of the Dawson students' union, said that students have been through an upsetting experience and the school has not provided much in the way of post-trauma support.
Dawson’s director general, Richard Filion, said the criticisms were uncalled for given the rarity of the event.
“We did our best to evacuate the building. We were in a state of shock,” he told the Montreal Gazette, adding that the school will be reviewing its emergency plans.
Since the 1999 school shootings in Columbine, Colo., American schools have instituted drills to prepare students and staff for the scenario of a gunman inside the building.
Filion, however, said that he does not plan to tighten security unless recommended to do so by Montreal police.
