Warm weather means more kids outside

As the clouds dry up and the weather gets warmer there are more kids playing outside. In the last month or so there have been about 1/2 a dozen kids who were hit by cars.
We are asking the public to slow down and pay a bit of extra attention to what's going on around the side of the roads, if there is a school or park zone, or yards and sidewalks with kids, be aware someone could run out, or even trip in front of your car.

While we hope you'll all slow down, the best bet for kids to be safe is for them to have great traffic knowledge and pedestrian safety skills.

1) First and foremost is to teach our kids not to go out into the road to chase after anything, not a ball, or even a pet.

2) While walking or approaching a crosswalk or edge of the road, it's a good idea not to horse around, ride bikes, skateboards scooters etc (dismount while waiting and crossing the road). It wouldn't be all that hard to hit a piece of uneven pavement or a curb and trip into the path of a car.

3) Walk facing the direction of traffic, if a car is coming too fast or being driven erratically the chances to get out of the way are higher if you can see it coming.

With blind spots in cars or people coming out between two cars and not seeing oncoming cars or being seen by the drivers, it's a recipe for disaster, and if that care is speeding it could greatly increase the seriousness of potential injuries.

Protest/Rally in Surrey TODAY!

Please Come Out and Show Your Support!
Location: corner of King George Highway and 72nd Avenue
Time: 2:00pm, Today Sunday February 25
Why: To protest the release of THIS dangerous, repeat sexual offender.

Today in Surrey (sorry for the last minute notice) there will be a rally/protest organized by Mayor Diane Watts to address the Dangerous Repeat Sexual Offender who was released into the Surrey area this past Friday. The Mayor has expressed outrage and concern as it is not a matter of IF he will attack again, but WHEN. Put Kids First will be attending the rally to show that we do not support dangerous offenders being released into our communities, our position is that if an offender needs a large scale warning upon their release that they are not a candidate and should be kept in jail indefinately. I hope many of you will be able to come out and show you do NOT support offenders like this being released into our communities._________________

The importance of hand washing

Hand washing is so important, it is the number one, best defense against bugs and germs!




These are the buggers that cause colds and flus.





Follow these five simple steps to keeping hands clean :
1 - Wet your hands with warm running water.
2 - Add soap, and then rub your hands together, making a soapy lather. Do this away from the running water for at least 15 seconds, being careful not to wash the lather away.
3 - Wash the front and back of your hands, as well as between your fingers and under your nails.
4 - Rinse your hands well under warm running water.
5 - Wipe and dry hands well with paper towel.
Turn off water using paper towel.

- Be especially sure to wash your hands:
- after using the washroom or changing a daiper
- after touching garbage
- before preparing any food
- after (and before) touching any raw meat
- after blowing your nose or sneezing
- after touching pets



Some spots to watch out for:
- doorknobs
- telephones
- the bottom of purses and bags (keep them off of eating areas or counter tops)

Sign up for the e-mailing list

We are going to be sending out our seasonal newsletters as well as local tips through emails

Our seasonal newsletter goes out at least 4 times per year, it contains relevant safety tips as well as news and information on our organization, laws that need changing or have been changed and a collection of newspaper headlines.

Our ongoing mailing list is a variety of current news and events. It includes urgent releases regarding children that are missing as well as predators who may be wanted by authorities or is released and poses a high risk to re offend.
We will also include events that Put Kids First will be attending around the lower mainland of BC.

If you would like to recieve one or both of these newsletter, send an email to news@putkidsfirst.org.

American Sex Offender to Serve 'Sentence' in Canada

If this guy is 'not a threat' why did the US say he could not return except for probabation appointments??? If they think he's safe they can keep him!!!


Prosecutor wants probation served in U.S.
Politicians, media blasted for over-reaction to penalty
Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press
Published: Wednesday, November 01, 2006

TORONTO -- An American prosecutor says that he regrets the political firestorm caused by his decision to allow a teacher convicted of a sex offence in Buffalo, N.Y., to serve probation in Canada.
Frank Clark said he was astounded that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other politicians had exacerbated a furor ignited by faulty media reports, and he now feels obliged to try to douse the flames.
"Obviously, there are members of Parliament who have used this for their own particular purpose," Clark said from Buffalo.
"This happened to be a pretty good target to shoot at and they shot at it, and there's nothing I could do about it other than try to correct the misperception that was created."
To do that, Clark will ask the sentencing court, likely at a hearing on Nov. 8, to force Malcolm Watson, 35, to serve his three-year probation in Erie County, N.Y., instead of Ontario.
A former teacher at an all-girls seminary, Watson had pleaded guilty last week in Buffalo to a low-level sex offence involving a 15-year-old student with whom he was having a consensual relationship.
As part of a plea bargain designed to spare the girl from testifying against him, the U.S. court agreed to allow him to return home to his wife and three sons in St. Catharines, Ont., to serve his probation.
An American citizen, Watson has permanent resident status in Canada and has lived in Ontario with his family for four years.
On Friday, Harper said he was "outraged" by the sentence, and wanted Watson deported.
Premier Dalton McGuinty also warned against Ontario becoming a "dumping ground" for American sex offenders.
Clark said that was a total overreaction to an offence that was "not serious."
"It really was not quite the mortal sin it was portrayed to be," he said.
"[But] I have everybody screaming, so I figure I have to do something."
Watson's Canadian lawyer, Stephen Green, called it "outrageous" that Clark was bowing to political pressure.
An investigation revealed that Watson has had no similar relationships or prior criminal background and there's nothing to indicate he's dangerous, Clark said.
That view was shared by an immigration adjudicator in Niagara Falls, Ont., who on Friday ordered Clark released pending a hearing on whether he should be deemed inadmissible to Canada.
Clark said initial media reports "perverted" the facts.
© The Vancouver Province 2006