Shari-Ann Selvey is calling on the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board take immediate action to address bullying in the wake of a board decision to receive a report on the issue in May.

Selvey attended the board’s Monday meeting in which trustees voted to approve an independent review panel led by three community members looking at bullying. What she heard — a pledge to tackle bullying by studying the issue and asking community stakeholders for input over the next six months — rang hollow.

She wants action now to ensure no other family has to endure what she’s going through.

“I’m living in hell right now and I would not want that for anyone else,” she said. “I think they should rush it through and put everything in place now.”

Selvey was witness to her son’s fatal stabbing behind Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School on Oct. 7. Police have charged two brothers, ages 14 and 18, with first-degree murder in connection with Devan Selvey’s death.

Selvey has said in the lead up to the attack, her son — who used the last name “Selvey,” not “Bracci-Selvey” as his obituary and previous reports have stated — was relentlessly bullied for weeks by a group of students.

She said she was in the principal’s office three times a week, urging administrators to do more. One student was ultimately suspended, and Devan was given a “safety plan” which encouraged him to not walk the hallways alone and not go to go to places like Tim Hortons, where the bullies might hang out.

“Why did he have to hide? He didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “He’s a teenager. He has to have a life.”

Practically, a school-level change she’d like to see is a commitment to bringing together all parties — victims, bullies and their parents — with school administrators, and looping in the board, when bullying occurs. That would reassure victims their concerns are being taken seriously and give parents a chance to fully understand what’s going on, she said.

In response to Selvey’s demand for a quicker turnaround, HWDSB director of education Manny Figueiredo said: “Bullying is a complex issue and the resources we need to address it must be comprehensive. Recognizing the need for immediate action, the review panel approved on Oct. 28 will work collectively with the existing efforts of HWDSB, including our large network of social workers and all other support staff.”

Responding to Selvey’s desire to see collaborative meetings, Figueiredo said: “Part of the review panel’s objective is to take recommendations — like the idea provided by Shari-Ann — from the community to implement.”

A third-party investigation looking specifically at Devan’s stabbing will also take place once the police investigation is complete, the board has said.

As for Devan’s first month of Grade 9, Selvey said he was regularly skipping school to avoid bullies. The days he did attend, he nearly always ended up texting his sister or calling his mom to pick him up.

Even at home, bullies bothered Devan on Instagram and Facebook, prompting him to create a new Facebook account with his dad’s last name.

Selvey believes her son was targeted because he was quiet.

Devan’s friends, who were bullied alongside him, continue to face bullying at Sir Winston Churchill, Selvey said. She worries, too, about recent reports of kids carrying knives elsewhere in the city. On Oct. 11, Hamilton police charged a 17- and 18-year-old after they allegedly brought a hatchet and knife to Glendale Secondary School in the city’s east end. On Oct. 23, two teens sustained minor injuries in a separate incident on the east Mountain, a “consensual fight” involving a knife.

“It’s still happening and it seems like no one cares,” Selvey said.

Selvey doesn’t know what more she or her son could have done to stop the bullying, which is why she wants the board to make changes now — not after the report comes back in May.

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“How many more children have to die before May?” she said. “May is not an option.”

Selvey also wants the parents of bullies to do better, acknowledging their role in their children’s behaviour. All kids need support — be they bullies or bullied, she said.

“Everybody failed these kids,” she said of her son’s bullies. “And because they failed those kids, I lost my kid.”