Student speaks out about bullying at Transcona high school

Teen speaks out on experiences with bullies Jason Gaidola speaks to a teenager about the bullying he’s faced over the years, and how a recent incident caught his community’s attention.

An 18-year-old high school student is hoping to to stamp out bullying at his Transcona high school.

Jordan Podolsky, a Grade 12 student at College Pierre Elliot Trudeau, said he’s lost count of how many times he’s been bullied.

“There's a lot of feelings, a lot of emotions that comes and washes over you," he said.

Jordan said he’s faced abuse, vandalism and even violence.

"There's been head injuries, I've been hospitalized, you name it, missing teeth. It's not a pleasant experience," he said.

Jordan’s father, Jason Podolsky, said the bullying has been going on since middle school.

He said the calls kept coming to pick up Jordan from school after an incident.

“The process has been difficult, and the longer it went on the worse it got. And we don’t know how to fix that," Jason said.

Jordan said the latest incident took place on March 20, when he found his vehicle covered in coffee, pop, and milkshake.

Jason said he spoke to school staff and administrators to find a solution.

The River East Transcona School Division sent the following statement to CTV News: “We can confirm that divisional and school staff have met with the Podolsky family. We will not comment further on details discussed during these meetings to respect our students' privacy. We can say that we take any allegations of bullying or inappropriate behaviour very seriously.”

The teenager posted photos on social media detailing his experiences, which sparked community members to plan a rally to help support the cause.

A growing group of people plan to rally at Victoria Jason Park near the school Wednesday.

Jason said he hopes students will feel comfortable to speak out against bullying.

“Even if this doesn’t help me, it’s going to help someone else, it’s going to make a voice for others,” Jordan added.

The event’s organizer said the rally is open to everyone.

- With files from CTV’s Jason Gaidola