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GUEST COMMENT

BRENDA SISSONS

What do the children say?
his year National Child Day on Nov.:20.
asked us to celebrate children’s right to
be heard. ;

When I was growing up, the adults I
knew didn’t think much about children’s rights, »
especially our right to be heard. We were fed,

clothed,'and for the most part left to entertain our-
selves while our parents went about the important

- adult work of making a home and providing for

the family..

'- We were taken to the doctor and the dentist and
sent to school. The lucky ones like ‘me were pro-
tected. Some children weren’t.

Sexual abuse, neglect and exploitation hap-°
pened back then, too, although as a society we —
didn’t recognize it to the extent that we do today.
While I was living comfortably at home with my

family and.attending my community school, Ab-
- original children across Canada were taken or sent’

from their home’communities to attend residential
‘schools-and silenced when they spoke their own

- language.

Still a lot of 1 us ‘grew up feeling provided for
and protected, two of the three categories of rights

’ articulated in the United Nations Convention on

the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989. But the
third category, participation, the right to express
our views about.things that’ affected us, well that
was another matter.

Some of my friends did farm chores every ry day.

_ In my family we had Saturday chores and younger

brothers and sisters to look after. So we had re-
sponsibilities. But when it came down to decisions
that affected us, my parents and those of most of
my friends reverted to the “children are to be seen
and not heard” parenting maxim that still domi-
nated the culture.

We've come a long way in terms of acknowl-
edging and respecting children’s rights since my
childhood, as evidenced by the fact that we now

. have a national acclaimed day each year to cel-
* ebrate our country’s most precious resource — our

children.

Nov. 20 is also a day to think about children’ s
rights. It’s a day to remember that all children
need love and respect to grow to their full poten-
tial. It’s a day to celebrate the work that families

do. It’s a day to think about the critical role we |

know that adults play in the development of the’
children close to them and consider how we as a
society support them to do that positively. a

lt is also an opportunity to look around our
community and think about what we are doing to
make this a safe, healthy, nurturing place where all
children can grow to their full potential.

As | think about children’s right to be heard, I
wonder what the children of Terrace and surround-
ing communities would say to.we adults who are
charged with keeping them safe and supporting
their growth into healthy, productive and — hope-°
fully — happy adults.

When we get up at night to soothe a crying
baby or crouch down to listen to our preschooler

‘tell us what happened at the playground, we are

listening to our children and honouring their right
to be heard. When we accept their clothing, hair
style and academic choices as they grow older, we
are respecting their right to be héard. Happily, lots
of children in Terrace have the experience of. feel-
ing heard and respected and reflect that experience
in their participation in the rich community life we |

have here.

But what about the kids who smash windows,
drop out of school, steal purses, drink and do drugs
in the park, hurt themselves and others, end up in
jail? Behaviour is a language, too. What are these

children saying?

] think they are trying to tell us that-on any,
given day, too many kids here go to school hun-
gry, without. the nourishment they need to learn.
Too many nights, they go to bed hungry and cold
in homes where there isn’t enough money to feed
them and keep them warm.

I think they are trying to tell us that their par-
ents need support they aren’t getting to learn how
to take care of them, when they were never cared
for as children themselves. They may also be try-
ing to tell us that there aren’t enough services to

~ help them get out of the dangerous spots their

youth, inexperience and lack of self respect have
led them to.

It is often easier to focus on the beheviour than
to look at the message behind it. But that’s what
we need to do as we grow in awareness that invest-
ing in all of our community’s children is the best
and most long lasting way of creating a healthy
community.

By MARGARET SPEIRS.

LIVING life on \ the edge
sums up the high school
life and Kevin Brooks in his
early twenties. .

The. student with good

' marks discovered quickly .

that being bad got him more

‘attention and quickly it be-

came an addiction.

An avid partier, Brooks
would drink and drink and
drink until-he passed . out
and never worried about the
consequences of his actions,

even after a friend stopped.
him from. driving when he.
“was heavily intoxicated in
» May, 2000. -

Although he ‘awoke the
next moming to thank the
friend for keeping him from
getting behind the wheel,

he didn’t learn the lesson in ~

time, despite all the warn-

_ings and close calls.

‘ On June 24, 2000, the
weekend of his sister’s grad-
uation and after two nights
of partying, Brooks decided
to drive home after an early
night so he would be able to
awake the next morning to
attend his then- girlfriend’s
horse show.

But after tossing | back a.
few, he got in his-car to go.
- home.along. with ‘a friend .

and made the choice to head
to a another party rather than
go to bed. ;

“I was ripping up the -

oad I drove all the time,” he
said to a class of Caledonia .
students last month.

“I always sped. I used to
race people down it.”

He kicked his car up to
120 km/h along a familiar

_ road on the edge of Van- ~
. couver suburbs Langley and

Cloverdale where he lived,
lost control on a corner and
sent his Chevy Cavalier Z24
into a concrete roadway di-
vider, launching the car into
the air.

The car flew a lengthy
distance, landed in the
ditch, rolled several times

-and stopped on its roof a
mangled mess. His friend

was killed and Brooks was
severely injured, including a

collapsed lung, which could
-have killed him,

‘Since the car was on its
roof, Brooks was left hang-
ing upside down from his
seat-belt, allowing blood

By DUSTIN QUEZADA

THE DIVAS. of | the
Northwest have answered
the call. .

Once a chorus struggling
for singers, the Pacific Mist
Chorus is now thriving.

The chorus is part of

Sweet Adelines Internation-
al, a worldwide organization
of women singers commit-
ted to advancing the musical
art form of barbershop har-
mony through education and
performances.

- The local chorus was-

started in Prince Rupert in
1983 but it was decided it

was too small to )_ operate

there.

But four years ago, di-
rector. Debbie Redman says
the group picked up singers
from Terrace.

“We grew so much it was:

like starting fresh,” Redman
said.

The group, women in

their early twenties to some

in their eighties, more than

doubled from about 15 to 36
divas.

_ That growth has allowed
the singers to flourish, says
Redman.

“Once you have over 20
people, the acoustics start
changing,” she said. “The
balance allows us to be more
active.”

The balance she’s refer-

_ 27, now travels:

TERRACE STANDARD |

“and other fluids to drain ‘out
his mouth; had he been sit-
ting upright, those
may have got into his lungs.

That may have saved
his life but he didn’t escape

unscathed. He’ suffered a -
mild head injury, dislocated |

right shoulder, separated left

. shoulder: and broken collar

bone. ©
_ “I was worked, shred-
ded,” he said.

‘More importantly, he

suffered fractured vertebrae
in his neck and damage to

his spinal cord that changed .

his life i in every way imagin-
able.”
Doctors told his parents

that he only had a 20 to 30

per cent chance of living.
Brooks soon learned of
his friend’s death from mas-
sive head injuries and the fact
‘that he would spend the rest

of his life in a wheelchair,

unable to wiggle his toes or
snowboard ever again.
“Paralyzed...
‘such a_ final
know,” he said.
Brooks had to learn to

word, you

breathe on his own again .

and doctors monitored his
return to eating and swal-

lowing to ensure he could do

it properly.and not inhale his
food. a= *

The first time he dressed .

and showered on his own

five months later, it took him |

two and a half hours. .

He called all his buddies _

to tell them and they were
stoked forhim..

Brooks is lucky ~ to be
‘alive and despite spending
so much time in hospital
hooked to a tubes to help
~ him > breathe, to drain his
lungs, to help him eat and to
help him pee, he decided he
wanted to live.

Six years later, Brooks,
around
speaking ‘to high schools
and community groups and
anyone who will listen to his
story in the hope that it will
make others think before
they drink and drive.

He still bears the scars
from the broken window that
cut his arm and face — a jag-
ged spider-web-like scar on
his upper left arm.and scars
on his nose, chin and one on
his throat where the breath-
ing tube was inserted.

Brooks said he misses

fluids ©

that .word, —

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - B1

“KEVIN Brooks puts his arm . around the chair he says. is occupied i in spirit by. ‘the __

‘friend he lost when he crashed his car six years ago.

MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO

snowboarding but hopes

to figure out a way to do it

again,

He enjoys _ sit-skiing,
swimming, his hand-cycle
and expressed interest in
trying Murderball, the full-
contact sport of wheelchair
rugby featured in a recent

documentary of the same -

name.
“Although he lost a friend

in the accident, Brooks still |

_remembers him fondly.

While he talked to the Cale--

_ donia students ‘and teachers,
he positioned his wheelchair
next to an empty chair that
he referred to near the end of
his talk. ,

“The chair beside me is

always there. I like to think:
Brendan i is here in spirit,” he:

said, putting his arm around
the chair.

“He noted all the memori-
als he saw along Hwy 16 on
the drive here from Smith-
ers. yo
“I lost track of the me-
morials from Smithers to
here. It’s like a war zone.

It’s crazy, scary. It happens |

here, too.”

You’ve got to be smart.
I’m not going to say don’t
party. You’re going to do it
if you’re going to do it, but
be smart and plan ahead,” he. -
said.

“Next time you get a gut
feeling that you shouldn’t

-be doing this, that voice that

holds you back, do everyone

°a favour. Stop for a second,

maybe two and wiggle your |

horus making sweet sounds |

monthly rehearsals singing the song made famous by the Beach Boys.:

toes. that’s it. Wiggle’ your °
toes and remember me, re-
‘member Brendan. .

“Ask yourself is it really -
worth taking that chance?”
Afterward; Brooks .said _

_ he hoped his story would
‘stay in students’ minds so.

they would stop and think.

Although he’s’ — been
through something he hopes -
others won’t suffer, he’s
pleased with his life now.

“T have to be happy where. .
I’m at because this is where ,
_I’m at now; ‘today, forever,”
he said. .

- “Where I’m at now is the

- best place. I’m happy where |
I am. I’ve forgiven: myself [>

and: to do this. (speaking to»
students) is amazing. I Just.
love it.”

“Go

KOKOMO: Pam Eyjolfson and members of the Sweet Adelines s Patific Mist Chorus go through | one of *

DUSTIN QUEZADA paoTO

ring to are the vocal ranges
that barbershop choruses
need, ranging from bass to
leads to baritone to tenor.
“The quartet is where it

started but it grew quickly,” « in Terrace, plus a monthly .

added Redman.

The chorus practises
‘twice a week, once in Prince
Rupert and Thursday nights

\

rehearsal.
“Originally, I thought I
wouldn’t come every week,

but it’s just so much fun to_

see it come together,”
Redman. “It’s addictive.”

said -

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