Teacher, Seven Oaks School Division

I just listened to a SRO and our admin support talking at volume, with students around, about how how the "mainstream media" can't be trusted. The SRO proceeded to say "just look at how they treated the freedom convoy, those guys are real heroes fighting for our freedom." I also overheard them talking disparagingly about the BLM movement and how "those people" have no right do destroy property. Having a uniformed officer is triggering, uncomfortable, and retraumatizing for our learners who have been involved in the criminal justice system. It is also a major issue having authority figures spout harmful disinformation at the front of our school. I don't know what the divisional stance is on this but at best it's inappropriate having them here, at worst it's actively harmful. As a division we do a lot of work around critical thinking, media literacy, and including vulnerable racialized learners etc. We bring in speakers like Pam Palmater, and Chris Emdin. All of this good work is undermined when we have these kinds of things play out at the front of our schools.