Saskatoon teen suffers concussion, broken jaw in afternoon assault walking home from school

It’s an issue that has plagued Star Phoenix columnist Jordan Cooper: violence in core neighbourhoods of Saskatoon.
 
It hit close to home Wednesday afternoon after his son was viciously attacked walking home from Bedford Road Collegiate.
 
“Somebody demanded his backpack,” said Cooper.  “He said no and it looks like he got sucker punched.  We’ve always talked about in cases like that to just give up the backpack because there’s nothing of value in that thing.  But he did what I probably would have done.”
 
Cooper’s son doesn’t remember much of the incident, suffering a concussion and a broken jaw.
 
Cooper says the violence has just gotten worse in recent years and part of that problem can be attributed to areas that are changing and improving which in turn forces people out.
 
“Without the right kind of policies and government intervention for social housing, where do people find a place to live?” said Cooper.  “We’re starting to see more violent acts that we never saw.  I think that’s because of a lot of areas in the city have changed and improved.”
 
“It can be awfully frustrating for people because Mayfair and Caswell are the last affordable neighbourhoods in the city.  And so people are drawn to that because there’s nowhere else to go.”
 
Cooper says a plan needs to be put into place by the city and the province to tackle social issues that play a big part in the violence.
 
“We just kind of just accept this amount of crime in the city,” said Cooper.  “But it’s not crime stats that we’re accepting, we’re accepting victims stories; that it’s okay that you can be beat up at 3:45 in the afternoon on the way home and that’s just part of life in the inner city. Is that the Saskatoon that we want?”