Nov 1, 2019 3 min read

Canon-McMillan School District officials are taking action to ensure students treat each other with respect and dignity after videos showing students using racial slurs circulated on social media last month.

“The message we want students to get is about having respect and appreciation for others from all ethnicities, and those with special needs, and people who are different from each other,” said Canon-McMillan Superintendent Michael Daniels. “We want kids to know that words matter, and we want them to know that something they say can be hurtful to other people.”

Last month, the school district and North Strabane Township Police investigated the videos, which spread on Facebook.

In at least one of the videos, a high school student reportedly uses a racial slur about African-Americans repeatedly.  

The videos are no longer available on social media.

North Strabane police concluded no crimes were conducted, and the department does not plan to further investigate the videos unless more information is obtained.

The school district has not concluded its investigation into the incidents.

Daniels said the school district “won’t stand idly by and hope it goes away.”

“Realistically, this is a problem that challenges us globally, and we felt it locally,” said Daniels. “We need to address it head-on and meet the challenge.”

School district administrators plan to meet next week with Dr. Mitchel Nickols, a Point Park University professor who provides consultation and instruction on diversity and inclusion, to develop a plan that emphasizes students treating each other with mutual respect, dignity and kindness.

Dr. Andrew Goudy, president of the Washington branch of the NAACP, reached out to the school district and offered to help officials work on its plan.

Additionally, high school faculty and students are planning to launch No Place for Hate, an Anti-Defamation League program aimed at combating bias and bullying.

In the 2020-21 school year, the school district is implementing Rachel’s Challenge, launched by Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, the first student killed in the Columbine High School mass shooting in 1999.

The program is designed to create a culture of kindness and respect among students.

In September, all Canon-McMillan employees were invited to attend a presentation delivered by Darrell Scott, Daniels said.

On Thursday, Dr. Adolph Brown, a clinical and educational psychologist, author and humorist, was the guest speaker at an assembly for Canon-McMillan High School student.

Brown’s lecture, about educational equity and diversity, included a message of kindness and acceptance, and told students that words matter.

“We have to protect our mouths from our brains,” he said.

Daniels said Brown’s lecture was the first step toward the district’s goal of “treating each other with kindness.”

“We want to focus on the importance of getting along and treating each other with mutual respect and dignity and kindness,” Daniels said. “Today’s assembly wasn’t just a one-and-done. It’s the first of a sustained effort to encourage positive interactions.”