Kelly O’Bryan’s in downtown Kamloops serves 16-ounce domestic sleeves (right) and import pints in branded glassware that hold between 19 and 20 ounces of beer. How much you get in a sleeve, glass or pint can depend on where you are drinking. Turn to page A5 to read more. Dave Eagles/KTW
THURSDAYY
K A M L O O P S
THIS WEEK
Thursday, April 24, 2014 X Volume 27 No. 47 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
School-district completes review of Perks book By Dale Bass
STAFF REPORTER
dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
WHEN IS A PINT A PINT AND A SLEEVE A SLEEVE?
FIND OUT BY TURNING TO PAGE A5
Will The Perks of Being a Wallflower wind up being a perk to be enjoyed outside the Kamloops classroom? The public may find out next week. The Kamloops-Thompson board of education may receive a report on Monday, April 28, after a review was done following a parent’s complaint about the book. School district assistant superintendent Karl deBruijn said the report by the district’s librarian has gone to Dean Audet, the parent who raised the issue last month. Audet had sent a letter to the board, complaining about the comingof-age novel by Stephen Chbosky. Audet said he felt the book “is clearly promoting the fact that all of the swearing and immoral behaviour and pornography should be commonplace and acceptable.”
He said his son, a Grade 10 student at South Kamloops secondary, first expressed concerns about the book. The boy was allowed to choose another book to study in English class. DeBruijn said board policy requires it first advise the complainant first of any decision, allowing for any additional steps or appeals to be made. The book is written in journal format — much like a diary — by a teenaged male to an anonymous friend and includes various issues he faces as he attends a new school. He’s not particularly outgoing, not the athlete his brother is, nor as socially active as his sister, but he is befriended by others and confronts various situations many students deal with today. Those include pre-marital sex, drugs, threats, physical violence, smoking, lying, abortion mentalhealth issues and feelings of inadequacy.
Y Women’s Emergency Shelter at capacity By Dale Bass
STAFF REPORTER
dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
In the first 90 days of 2014, the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter has been at full capacity more times than it was all of last year. Michele Walker, director of the shelter’s violence against women intervention and support services, said the shelter has seen a significant increase in the number of women turning to it to escape violence at home. From January to March, the shelter was full on 59 nights. “In 2013, we had 50 nights full-at capacity for the whole year,” Walker said.
In addition, 60 women in April have accessed the shelter’s outreach services. Walker spoke to KTW following media reports of the murder of a mother of three in Clearwater. Angela Wilson was killed on Monday, April 21. Her estranged common-law husband, Iain Scott, has been charged. MURDER CHARGE/A7 “The perpetrator has no control anymore and the violence can escalate as he tries to regain control,” Walker said. “There is risk when she is in the relationship, but it ramps up when she leaves.”
Walker said staff are seeing increased complexities in cases they deal with — more women facing barriers to income or legal assistance, for example, or trying to navigate the government bureaucracy to access services. “She’s already stressed,” Walker said of the typical woman with whom the shelter deals. “It is very daunting to face any of these systems, even as someone who knows how to navigate them. Imagine being afraid and alone and trying to do it.” Walker said staff are also seeing situations with more violence, mental-health and substance-abuse issues than before.
And, she said, the “system” is even harder to get through if the woman is aboriginal, an immigrant or a refugee. Children who witness violence in the home “carry that violence with them,” Walker said, but whether it leaves them scarred depends on the supports they can access through adulthood. Walker criticized language used by the media when covering domestic violence when referring to a “killing” rather than a “murder” and when referring to a “domestic dispute” rather than a “violent relationship.” “The language we use minimizes their experiences,” she said. Walker said society often criti-
cizes women who don’t leave violent relationships, asking why they didn’t call police, contact support services or flee the house. She said most women learn how to navigate the violence in the home, recognizing the triggers that will cause the violence and knowing what to expect. “That’s why we tell women — and the community — this is not their fault. He is the one who chose violence,” Walker said. “When society blames women, we ask ‘Why wasn’t he stopped? What was done to stop him?’” To contact the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter, call 250-3746162.