In my job, I get to meet some amazing young people. I've met kids who build intricate robots, kids who create soul-stirring artwork, kids who write and perform deep, thought-provoking music and kids who start movements of action against wrongs they see in the world.
Oftentimes my own eight-year-old daughter surprises me with a thought or plan that I think is beyond her years, like her recent call for a student council to ensure issues of concern for her peers are being addressed. Wow. I don't think I was that involved or that I cared about anything more than my Atari when I was eight. Well, maybe my cat.
I was surprised and delighted by a student on the Coast yet again this week when I talked with 17-year-old Charlene Smith about the youth crime prevention program she's created.
Charlene had the good fortune of being raised by a mother who was involved with the RCMP and able to give her concrete tools to avoid dangerous situations.
She was in Grade 9 when she was hit with the reality that others her age weren't as prepared as she witnessed a Grade 12 student nearly die from an overdose in the middle of the street.
Charlene stepped in and administered CPR, saving the girl's life, while the girl's "friends" refused to get involved because they didn't want to get in trouble.
In Grade 9, Charlene would have been about 14. I don't know many 14 year olds who would have had the courage, knowledge or skill to help, but if she hadn't, there would have been a much different outcome.
Already a hero in my book, Charlene could have stopped there, but she saw a larger need.
She realized drinking, drugs and sexual exploitation were common issues for her peers and worked to find a way to get out the message of how to stay safe to other kids on the Coast.
She created a program that will bring two groups (Odd Squad Productions and Children of the Street Society) to the Coast this year so every high school and elementary school student in Grade 6 and 7 will learn the tools they need.
Her concrete plan of action has inspired even members of the Sunshine Coast RCMP detachment who once felt there was no hope to combat the Coast's party scene and its devastating effects on youth.
"I had begun to accept this behaviour as the norm and felt powerless to it. It took this young, determined and hopeful student to suddenly make me realize that this behaviour isn't acceptable. Whether they know it or not, our youth are in a state of need, and these serious concerns must be addressed by our entire community," Const. Ashley Taylor is heard to say on a sound clip in Charlene's youth crime prevention program presentation.
I agree it will take the whole community to create the change needed, and through these programs and parent involvement, change will come. But it never would have started without a 17-year-old girl's vision and drive. Thank you, Charlene.
I pledge to get involved and do my part, and I hope other parents will too. I'm also hopeful that funds will become available to make this an ongoing project.
Its worth far outweighs its cost.
