Mr. Speaker, I have been out of the teaching profession more than 25 years but I know some things have not changed in the school system. When there is a disruptive influence in the classroom everyone is hurt. Unless we have the resources to deal with the individual causing the disruption, everyone suffers. That has not changed. I know teachers have concerns about that.
With respect to the issue of violence I know the member has spent a tremendous amount of time on the bill. He is speaking from experience that none of us, thank goodness, have ever had to live through in terms of violence and youth crime and so on. However when we look at the shootings in various high schools and institutions over the last number of years, especially in the U.S. but also in Canada, the common theme is that they were done by troubled people who had no one to help them.
Without such help nothing changes because we have no idea, or we cannot say categorically, what kinds of homes those young people come from. Obviously some come from what we consider good homes. What happens behind those walls none of us know. I know parents do their best to deal with this, but teachers need professionals and support staff they can depend on. That would avoid a lot of this.
I know some young people are the victims of teasing, taunting and peer groups and so on. However putting up with young people who are subjected to that, and who then vent their emotions on an entire classroom, takes a lot out of a teacher.
The teaching profession, unless I am wrong, would be very supportive of interventionist moneys or resources to help the problem. Unless the problem is addressed and there is honest dialogue in terms of what is happening in the classroom, nothing will change. We must pay attention to the problem.
Let us put resource people into the classroom. Let us make the commitment to do that. Such commitment means moneys from Ottawa. We must identify the problem and the federal government must finally stand up and say yes, we have the resources to help. That is what we want. We want help in the classrooms of small towns, communities and cities across Canada. We want something to happen.