Sheila E. Tucker

ABOUT SHEILA E. TUCKER

Sheila E. Tucker is a writer, poet, editor and graphic designer. Her work has been published in anthologies, magazines, newspapers and e-zines.

She recently served as editor-in-chief for a Toronto arts and letters club, creating a quality anthology that is now for sale in the Art Gallery of Ontario (Musings). As well, she was an editor for an Ontario anthology of prose, visual art and poetry (Things That Matter) and co-editor for a writers' group (Crazy Cove). She founded and hosts Poetry&Prose, a local literary salon and open mic.

Sheila studied English literature at the University of Toronto and is a member of The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC) and The Ontario Poetry Society (TOPS).  She is also in the Heliconian Club for Women in the Arts and Letters, where she is active in selection committees, book projects and author events.

 

BLOG

Why is that that all around the planet, children are abused by other children and almost nothing is done? Except, maybe, a slap on the wrist for perpetrators while victimized children are traumatized. I do not believe that just because the aggressor is, say, a ten-year-old, that they don’t understand what they’re doing. Of course they do. Mean kids enjoy the fear and pain they inflict, and some of my previous blogs comment on the why’s and how’s. I’ve also discussed apathy on the part of teachers, caregivers and neighbours … I see such adults as enablers, frankly. So below is yet another story of a child physically injured, emotionally hurt – this time in China, as reported in late 2024 by Laura Bicker, a China correspondent in Beijing for BBC World News. There are also links to two other articles re Chinese school bullies. In only one of these stories were the bullies – who murdered their victim – sentenced. I have to say, it’s disheartening. The cruel streak in humans appears to be innate. So does apathy. Protests in China over viral school bullying case A school bullying incident in southern China has sparked a series of protests and calls for more justice for the 14-year-old victim. A video of the girl being slapped, kicked and forced to kneel by three other minors went viral in the Jiangyou city in Sichuan province last week. The police said the three suspects are all female, aged 13, 14 and 15 – and two of them had been sent to “specialised schools for corrective education”. As news of the incident spread on social media, many felt the punishment was too light – especially after claims that the girl had been bullied for some time and that her mother, who is reportedly deaf, had pleaded with the authorities for more justice for her daughter. In a series of videos, shot by the perpetrators, the victim can be heard saying she would call the police after being repeatedly hit with a stick. Then one of the girls attacking her said they were not afraid. Another said she had been to the police station more than 10 times, and claimed she was set free in less than 20 minutes. These comments have resonated with those who fear that not enough is being done to punish bullying in China. The incident has prompted a wave of public anger online and protests erupted outside the local government offices in Jiangyou. More than 1,000 people gathered in the street on 4 August and stayed past midnight, according to local shop owners. One of them told the BBC that “things got bloody” after police used batons and electric prods to control the crowd. Several videos posted online appear to verify his account. Officers can be seen dragging protesters along the street and hitting them with batons. A witness also said he saw a few water bottles being thrown at the police. “People just wanted justice,” he said. “People were upset about the punishment.” The witnesses who spoke to the BBC were unwilling to give their names as the police have reportedly urged locals not to talk about the incident. In a call to the local Public Security Bureau, the BBC was told that there were “limitations on foreign press asking questions”. Protests in China are not uncommon, but they are quickly shut down and censored on state-run media and the internet. The demonstrations in Jiangyou have forced the police to issue a second statement to clarify rumours that the assailants were the daughters of a lawyer and a police inspector. These claims are false, police said. “Two of the parents are unemployed, two are working outside the province, one is a local salesperson, and one is a local delivery driver,” the statement said. The police have punished two people for spreading fake information online saying their posts have “seriously disrupted public order and caused bad social impact”. A lawyer based in Shanghai said in an online post that this incident has highlighted an ongoing legal dilemma for Chinese officials. “The penalty for causing minor injuries is too mild, while the physical and mental trauma suffered by victims is overlooked by the law, which leads to a significant imbalance in the protection of their rights,” he wrote on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. His credentials have been verified by the BBC, but he is unwilling to be named. Bullying has become a highly sensitive topic in China in recent years, and student deaths over alleged bullying have triggered protests in the past. In January this year, the death of a teenage boy sparked violent protests in a city in north-west China. Objects were hurled at police during demonstrations in Pucheng in Shaanxi province. Authorities said the teenager fell to his death in an accident at his school dormitory, but there were allegations on social media of a cover-up. Last year a Chinese court handed down lengthy sentences to two teenagers who murdered a classmate in Hebei province with a shovel. The 13-year-olds buried the victim in an abandoned vegetable greenhouse. The victim was bullied by his classmates, his family and lawyer had alleged, while the court said that he had “experienced conflict” with the convicted teens. I think that, instead of attacking people protesting the bullying of children, the authorities should be doing more to discourage toxic kids in the first place. Pucheng incident – Shannxi province of China: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj494zd7y14o Hebei province: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdekpjn14r0o [...]
What better way to commemorate our day for Truth and Reconciliation than via music and song for the ears, and vivid, bright orange for the eyes? Mimi O’Bonsawin is a singer-songwriter born of mixed French Canadian & Abénaki, a member of Odanak First-Nation. Her music embraces the Beauty of Land. Last week, on September 30th, some of us attended her concert in Oakville. She performs with various string instruments and her husband plays drums. It was wonderful to listen to her beautiful voice and also to watch an Indigenous traditional dance. Beforehand, we had stood outside the theatre to witness speeches and songs by Indigenous people who relayed experiences of residential schools that they, their parents or grandparents had been forced to attend. The trauma it left – on those that survived – remains for life, really. How can it not? I’m only glad that in recent years, especially since the discovery of countless unmarked graves in the grounds of those old residential schools, Caucasian Canadians stopped to finally listen to what First-Nations people had been trying to tell them for decades. (See my blog post on that here.) The September 30th Day for Truth and Reconciliation is also known as Orange Shirt Day. It’s a day of memorial recognizing the multi-generational effects of the atrocities committed in Canadian Indian residential schools … by supposedly Christian monks and nuns. Many of us wear something orange to stand in solidarity.   [...]
Some comments about my memoir from a reader who kindly posted a review on Goodreads. Kevin Colemand. Oakville, ON I have just finished reading Rag Dolls and Rage by Sheila Tucker. It is an exceptionally well written memoir, and pulled me into her life story from the beginning. The use of her therapist as a stand-in for the reader is deftly handled and gives an immediacy to our witness. This is a story of difficult beginnings and hardship, but with a determination and grit that has Sheila emerge as her own person, not just a survivor but as a model of self determination. I strongly recommend this book to almost anyone and especially those who are trying to leave trauma and betrayal behind. Also to those who care for damaged children that they may not repeat the errors made so clear here, even though loving support was being provided. [...]
SAVIS

SAVIS offers free and confidential 24/7, one-on-one crisis counselling services, with no judgment, just support.

Services can be short- or long-term in nature and are open to female-identified, male-identified and transgender people aged 14 and over who are survivors of violence, including childhood abuse.

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