Dave Ellis skatepark -- LNN

By Connor Gunn

Bullying becomes a problem at secluded Northside skatepark

Jul 29, 2020 | 1:59 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB– The Dave Elton Park on the northside of Lethbridge, has many different amenities, including a secluded skatepark.

On a number of occasions, young children have reported bullying has become an issue at the location.

With such a secluded location, there’s little or no adult supervision and the skatepark has very few rules.

Concerned citizen, Mallory Kristjanson, says something needs to be changed.

“We know that bullying isn’t just happening at a skatepark, it’s happening throughout our community against children and against youth.”

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Kristjanson says that in order to make a change in the community, speaking about bullying, Council or the City will have to do something.

An anti-bullying bylaw is needed for Lethbridge according to Kristjanson and she believes someone needs to take a stand against the intimidating behaviour.

“Kids are getting beat up here, their bikes, their scooters, their helmets are being stolen and this is a problem for our community so we are kindly inviting city council to bring forth and start having conversations about implementing an anti-bullying bylaw.”

Starting soon, the Bikers are Buddies society will be patrolling the area of the Northside skatepark in an attempt to provide someone to talk to and some adult supervision.

Kristjanson says once they reached out to parents of Lethbridge about bullying, the posts started “flooding in” with many different bullying stories that could happen to any child or anyone.

Kristjanson contacted media and Bikers are Buddies were at the skatepark Wednesday to draw attention to the increasing problem.