“writes: down the

where ‘he receives 10 stitches

| in his left knee. The boy's

parents arrive several minutes

later and take their sore but

wiser son back home.
May. A car idles slowly

through a residential neigh- |

pourhood. It stops briefly ..

then is slowly driven away. ”

I Five or ten minutes later, the”

i same vehicle
approaches a group of young

returns. — It

children, and stops. One of
the -youngsters gets into the
car. The driver speeds away.

A suspicious Block Parent

description, licence number
and direction of travel, and
phones the police. A wise

precaution, but in this case,

everything was okay... It was
only the father picking up his.
own child. But it could have
been something very differ-
ent and a tragedy might have
been prevented. |
‘June. A seven-year-old boy

B playing on the street falls on

vehicle ©

Knowing where it’s safe to go when in distress is. an j
important, part.of, growing up:.with:.a feeling of-segurity:for |
children. Neighbourhood Block Parents can add to that §
feeling. oo, a 7

a piece of broken glass. A
deep gash in his leg is bleed-
ing badly. One of his friends
spots a Block Parent sign and

COAST .
TRACTOR /

(FEREATE TRA

ee

VEL

restless

‘heads for help. The Block

Parent administers some
emergency - first aid. The
boy’s mother arrives at the

scene a short time later and

drives her son home.
July. Summertime boredom
of a hot July afternoon. A

doing a high-wire act on the
front yard fence loses his
footing. The boy’s parenis

f are not at home; a friend

summons a nearby Block
Parent. The Block Parent
tends to a lacerated.clbow
with a cold cloth and a ban-

dage. Because the parents -

aren’t home, she phones the
RCMP, who transport the
boy to the hospital emerg-
ency room and: later drive
him home to his parents.
August. A happy pair of

10-year-old boy

12year-olds are out for a-bike
ride on.a sunny summer -
afternoon, One loses control

and crashes into, a ditch,
slashing his right wrist on a

proken bottle. They’re-a mile |

from home, but there’s a

Block Parent home right

across the street.
-The boy’s friend reports the
accident to the Block Parent,

who in turn notifies the

injured boy’s father. The
father arrives shortly after

and takes his son to Mills

Memorial Hospital for s¢v-
eral stitches. A short while

dater, father and son return

home, thankful a Block Par-

ent had been nearby to offer

help,
‘September. A Block Parent
mom spots something suspi-

cious as she is dropping: her

child off at a local school, .

The driver of a van had.
stopped near a young girl and
invited her inside. "Do you

-want a ride home?" he asked.

The girl hesitated, then reluc-

tantly got in the van. The .
Block Parent noted the pat-

ticulars and phoned the

police. |

. The van'was stopped a few |
minutes later and the officer
soon determined everything
was fine. The girl was feel-
ing ill, and her. mother had
sent a-neighbour to the
school to pick her up. If
things had been: different,
however, it might have been
an offender... who would not

have gotten far.