School tells student-athlete she can’t participate unless self-injury scars are hidden

During the second week of January a school counsellor who the girl had been seeing asked the cheer advisor if the student-athlete was able to wear leggings to cover fresh injuries at practice.

“We were told no; it’s not allowed to cover. It’s against the dress code [for the team].”

But after practice last week, the mom said she received a call from the vice principal saying it was school policy and the scars needed to be covered.

“So, going forward, she has to wear leggings and long sleeves if she is going to compete in competition,” the mom said.

The family was also advised by the school that the girl, who has type 1 diabetes, can’t stay in a hotel room with other girls for safety reasons.

“I agreed I would keep her with me,” she said. “But they also said that the other girls on the team are going to go swimming [at the hotel], and she would not be allowed to go with them because of the injuries on her legs.”

The mom said her family has been left feeling confused about the mixed messages they’ve received from the school. She would have preferred clarity from the beginning to lessen the impact it’s had on her daughter. She said it also adds to the stigma of non-suicidal self-injury.

“Now that this information has been brought to our attention, that they are saying she has to wear the leggings, I spoke with her about it,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve had a conversation with her about it and she simply quit because she doesn’t want to be covered and wearing leggings. So that’s the end result.”

Jan. 25 is known as Bell Let’s Talk Day – a widely popular initiative that encourages people to talk about mental health. The mom said it seems counterintuitive for school officials to ask her daughter to cover up to prevent a conversation about the issue.

“The message that is being sent to her [about] her mental health struggles is, because it is physical, she should keep it covered because it is triggering other students. I feel the message being sent to her is she shouldn’t talk about it.”

Light of Christ Catholic School Division director of education Cory Rideout told BattlefordsNOW in an email that the school division is working with the family to help resolve the issue.

“Light of Christ Catholic Schools takes the mental health and safety of all of our students very seriously,” he said in a statement. “From what I can gather, there has been some misunderstanding regarding this situation. The school has met with the family on multiple occasions and has made every attempt to help clarify these misunderstandings and support both the student and the family. From both the school’s and the school division’s perspective, the student can most certainly continue to participate in any and all cheer activities, just as she has done in the past.”

Rideout was asked to clarify whether that meant the girl has to cover the scars in order to participate, but BattlefordsNOW did not receive a response.

Meanwhile, the mother said she would like to see some changes in the way this type of matter is dealt with in the future.

“I believe this is a huge step in the wrong direction: Telling her to be covered up, or she can’t do certain things on the team is increasing the stigma. Going forward, I would like to see staff provided with proper training and education when it comes to situations like this, and for better communication. They need to be able to have the conversations, even if they are uncomfortable,” she said.

The mother added that being part of the cheerleading team was a joyful experience for her daughter but she has lost her enthusiasm because of the way she was treated and will ultimately miss out on future team experiences.

“It was something positive for her, to build new relationships — people that she may not have built a relationship with if it wasn’t for cheer,” she said.

Stephen Lewis, University of Guelph professor and an expert on non-suicidal self-injury, collaborated with McGill University professor Nancy Heath to develop an online resource related to self harm at Self-injury Outreach and Support (SiOS).

He told battlefordsNOW in many cases it may benefit a youth to show their scars as a step toward their own recovery process and to diminish their sense of shame if they had any to begin with. But he said he does recommend that displaying any open cuts in general not be encouraged, simply because the wounds could potentially get infected.

Youth looking for help with mental health issues can reach out to Kids Help Phone through its free 24-hour mental health service at: https://kidshelpphone.ca/, 1-800-668-6868 or text 686868.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

by Angela Brown

School tells student-athlete she can’t participate unless self-injury scars are hidden

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