New parents on the block needed

Commentary by Alicia Boisson
The other day I was witness to a kid being bullied in the streets, as they passed the windows of the newspaper office. Subsequently I felt the moral obligation to make sure that the kid was okay so I decided to follow the troublesome duo. Upon turning the corner of a street I noticed that the child being bullied was making a bee-line to a local business so that he might get away. However the bully was not interested in letting him get away that easily. He decided he was going to stalk his “prey” and waited outside the store. I walked up to the kid and told him to go home, and then proceeded to enter the business to see if the “prey” was okay. Of course he wasn’t and he was a little afraid to proceed any further to his destination, the business where his mom works. So I and another lady decided to walk him there and inform his mom about had been going on. This made me think. I remember when I was growing up almost every house on the block had a red and white sign in the window, with two figures holding hands. This sign stood for a safe haven, a place where a kid or anyone could go if they felt like they were in danger. This sign was the symbol of a Block Parent. Today as I drive or walk through the streets of my community, it is very rare that I see the sign in the window. What happened to the Block Parent? Has society today decided the need for a safe place is irrelevant? In this case the kid has the knowledge to use an establishement, as a safety net, but what would have happened if he was in a residential street and had no place to go? The bullying cycle would continue would it not? October 22-28 is National Block Parent week, and there is no better time to refresh the memories of this region about a program that has been around for 35 years. The mission of the program is to provide immediate assistance through a safety network and offer supportive community education programs. A Block Parent offers their home or business as a place of safety when someone is being bullied, lost, hurt, ill, caught in severe weather, or frightened by a stranger. In Alberta there are 42 communities involved, with 4,019 homes, 141 business involved. In 2006 there were 71 incidents. Of these 22 were bullying, 36 were lost, 2 were illness, 5 were locked out, 2 were molested, 1 followed by a person, 2 frightened, 1 other. Canada had 42 bullying incidents and of these 42, 22 were in Alberta. Why is there a need for block parent you might ask? Well with todays society being so mobile children can no longer rely on their extended family. Most parents don’t even know their neighbors well enough to trust them with their children. Block Parents are people who have passed a police check with flying colors, they are people who care. Even if you are never home, there must be sometime when you can display a sign in the community, even if it is only in the evenings, on weekends, or on holidays. It is suggested that even during Halloween, is a good time. Become a Block Parent help those in need.

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