A Flin Flon man is demanding changes to school policies after his son was left alone in the schoolyard, and whipped and bound with a chain by a group of boys before he was discovered.

Rob Robertson said that's what happened to his five-year-old son, Seth, Wednesday at Ecole McIsaac School.

"He just basically said he got kind of hit and whipped by these boys," Robertson said. "He said he wasn't scared, he said he got mad."

Robertson said police and school officials told him the bell rang at 1 p.m. for the children to go back to class, but Seth went off with some boys from a different school.

He said the boys hit him with the chain, then put it around his ankles.

It was a "police game" where Seth was the prisoner and the other boys the police.

Children found Seth in schoolyard

Robertson said it's not clear how long it went on for, because the boy wasn't discovered until other students came out at about 2:40 p.m..

Robertson said even then, it was the children that found Seth.

"They saw the boys doing this to Seth, and they ran off. These two kids got the chain off of Seth's feet. They threw the chain and took Seth towards the school and then the boys came back to retrieve their chain."

Robertson said he doesn't understand how staff would not have checked to make sure all the students were back in class.

"That wasn't the case here. Obviously, he got left out there. Without anybody calling him in. I mean, he should know to go when the bell goes, but I don't know," he said.

Robertson said as usual, he dropped Seth off at the school at 1 p.m. Usually he watches Seth play in the playground until the bell rings. But on Wednesday, Robertson wanted to get back to his own yard work at home and left before the bell.

He said the school started calling home just after 1 p.m. but Seth's mother, Mylene, works a night shift and was sleeping and he was outside.

Robertson could tell the school was trying to get in touch with him by the missed calls recorded on both his cell and the home phone.

More supervision needed, father says

Robertson said when the school finally reached Mylene just after 3 p.m., a teacher said Seth hadn't come in until just before 3 p.m. and that two students had found him tied up to a soccer post.

Robertson said they called police immediately and were later told by officers that he hadn't been chained to a soccer post but that his ankles were chained.

"[School officials] did tell me that they do have teachers out there that wear reflective arm bands but that those teachers also have their own classes to teach, so I guess when the bell goes they got to get to the doors, and round up their students and have them in their classes. I think they probably need to have ... educational assistants be outside until all the kids are in."

Robertson said Seth has a mark on his eye and his back but they are not serious injuries.

He said Seth has not been traumatized by the incident.

Still, he said, the school needs to do more to ensure other children are not left behind when students go back to class.

"I think there needs to be changes, just for the safety of all the kids," he said. "You'd think that they would be out there until the last kid's inside. And if there's kids that don't belong there they should have to go."

'Lots of reasons children aren't in school' says school division

Blaine Veitch, superintendent of Flin Flon School Division, reached Friday, said supervisors did check the playground when Seth did not return to class at 1 p.m.

But they didn't see him.

He said the teacher informed the office and staff called the parents. Veitch said Seth and two other boys, one of whom was four or five, the other around nine or 10, both from another community, had left the property.

The supervisors were unaware of that.

"There's lots of reasons that children aren't in school," Veitch said. "We did scan the playground at 1:30 and again at 2:30. And it's possible that that would be one of the things we'll do [in the future] is another scan. But we haven't come to any final decisions on how better to handle that."

'Cops and robbers game got rough'

Veitch confirmed Seth was hit by a chain similar to a dog's choke chain.

"Seth had been pushed down, he had been getting hit by a necklace chain," he said. "My understanding is the boys had been playing a cops and robbers game that maybe got a little rough." Veitch said a couple of older students intervened as they've been taught in bully prevention programs when they came across Seth at 2:40.

He said Seth was not crying and he went to class in the afternoon as usual.

Veitch said school officials and police have spoken to the two children who left the school property with Seth.

"We do have situations where a cousin comes and visits, former students come back and they want to spend some recess time with their old friends. In this specific case, these boys were seen on the property. They were interviewed by our school administrators. They were from a neighbouring community [and were] visiting family. They were polite."

Veitch said the incident is still being reviewed and the results will be discussed at the board meeting next week.