“I’m here because the teachers couldn’t stand me anymore,” says Noah*.
“I hacked into teachers’ emails and other school accounts,” admits Samuel*.
“I was suspended because my friends and I were laughing and having little fights,” explains Jérémie*.
These three teenagers who were suspended from their school meet on this sunny Monday at the YMCA on Avenue du Parc, in Montreal.
Like all young people forced to follow the “Alternative Suspension” program in a small group, they will spend between three and five days there, more in reflection than in punishment.
A bit like in the movie Breakfast Club, but under close supervision.
All schools on the island of Montreal, but also schools in Laval, the South Shore, Trois-Rivières and Quebec are registered in the program and can recommend the students they suspend and who need a small electric shock.
Mornings at the YMCA are devoted to schoolwork and afternoons to workshops (on bullying, violence, racism, etc.).
“A successful stay, for us, is when the young people liked it, but they don’t want to come back,” summarizes director Étienne Pagé, responsible for academic success at the YMCA.
Before getting there, the young people first made a few stays at their school’s withdrawal room, a kind of “daycare for teenagers”, notes Mr. Pagé (Noah describes his rather, at his school, as ” depressive premises” without windows).
At the YMCA, it’s the real deal. Forced to be there from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., young people are then cut off from their environment, without contact with their friends.
“Some come with a little pencil, telling us that they have no work to do and that in any case, they have no idea why they were suspended,” explains Mr. Pagé.
The school can send the young person to the YMCA once a year, exceptionally twice a year at most “for those who need a booster shot at the end of the year! », says Mr. Pagé.
If the behavior is not corrected, heavy artillery will be deployed: expulsion from school and, ultimately, admission to a school for young people with behavioral problems, where “where there is a lot of trouble », observes Mr. Pagé.
None of the teenagers interviewed that day are drug dealers, finished delinquents or young people suspended for possessing a weapon at school.
They seem well cared for at home. For example, Jérémie says he had his ears heated by his parents. “They told me they didn’t raise me like that, they confiscated my phone, they stopped me from going to my basketball game. »
For Sam, the last few days haven’t been good either. It took the school a month to identify those who had hacked the school accounts. “I didn’t say anything, I was afraid they would deport me, then I hoped they would forget it and move on, but no…”
Sam’s parents now forbid him from dating his sidekick.
“My friend, he’s a very good guy and basically, to be honest, when he started to go too far and write very bad words, I could have stopped him,” he admits in an interview .
Mr. Pagé has run the program for 19 years and in recent years has had a front-row seat to “the terrible impact of social media,” the anxiety and violence it fosters, he says. . “Young people compare themselves to those who go boating in Jamaica! »
When the heaviest cases present themselves at the YMCA, those in charge often know that there will be no miracle.
“At most, it allows us to demonstrate to parents that even close intervention in a small group changes nothing” and that a specialized school is then necessary, explains Mr. Pagé.
Lensa Hassan, youth worker, explains that she has learned to be more realistic.
Some upset her, like this teenager who, during a workshop discussion on romantic relationships, said that he had nothing to do with it since “you can buy a woman”.
Ms. Hassan makes no secret of being disturbed to see so many teenagers being followers of Andrew Tate and Kai Cenat, who profess horrors about women on the internet.
Conversely, which young people move Ms. Hassan the most? Those who were suspended because they responded to violence with violence, like this teenager who was constantly insulted about her appearance and who took revenge after months of intimidation.
“She didn’t know she could have gone and gotten help.”
