I've had a recent event that has caused me to rethink unparented activities for my children and thought that forewarned is forearmed for all of you and your precious children.
My kids were at skating lessons at Heritage and Macleod trail, near the Heritage LRT station. I had a phone call and found a quiet corner in the public area to complete my call. During this time, my son had a minor injury during the skating lesson. He was startled and the instructor said he did not have to continue skating. She took Declan off the ice, out of the skating rink and out to the main lobby and apparently tried to find me. Since she could not find me, she then left him by the front doors since he said that he was okay (He is 7!). The coach was not informed, I was not contacted despite having provided an emergency number in the registration program. I found him quite distraught about 20 minutes later after I finished my phone call. I spoke directly with the instructor (herself a minor) who indicated that Declan seemed to be okay by himself. She realizes his age, but thought he would be 'fine'.
I approached the skating club about the incident. They indicated that they have no policies once the child is off the ice. They believe the skating volunteer made a mistake. They will not implement policies or procedures to ensure that this incident does not happen again. They advertise this program as unparented and have no obligation for parents to stay at the rink during the lesson. Their resolution to the situation was a full refund, or take the program as is. They were not about to change any policies or procedures. They felt there was no harm done.
Frankly, children under 12 should not be left unattended. They should be in the care of the instructors, until the parent returns. Any incident where the child is physically or emotionally unable to participate should require the instructor to contact the parent to ensure that the parent is aware of the situation and can come to collect the child. Children who are not able to skate during a lesson, should be "supervised" on the bench in an area that is not accessible to the general population.
Lessons learned:
If you are dropping off your children at "unparented" events, check the policies of the organiziation running the event for the following incidents.a) Late pickup. Will your child be supervised until the caregiver arrives? Will your child be left in a public place unsupervised? Will the emergency contact number be contacted if the child is not picked up after 10-15 minutes?
b) Accident/illness/injury during the activity. If your child is unable to perform the activities, where does the child stay until the end of the activity? Will they be supervised? Will the parents be informed, and the emergency contact called?
c) Are all of the staff AND the volunteers aware of the obligations and are they trained in their responsibilities?
d) Are underage volunteers or staff trained in the area of child supervision?
According to Interpol, in 1999 there were 52 non-family abductions in Canada and 184 children abducted by a parent without a custody order. Abductions are real and caution needs to be exercised. Ensuring that all activities that your children are involved in is critical to ensuring your child's safety and well being.
Child Safe Canada offers a free course entitled "Child Safe Abduction Prevention Seminar" - http://www.childsafecanada.com/pubcategory.aspx?ProID=78&CatID=5
Check out the policies of your children's unparented activities. Reconsider your enrollment in activities that do not have policies nor enforce the policies.
So we're now looking for other skating lessons that do provide some form of protection by guidelines and policies for my children, or alternatively ensure that I am supervising them while they are having their lessons. (No bathroom breaks!)
Stay safe!
Paula
