Far North groups watch out for crime
WHEN crime reared its head in her suburb, White Rock woman Sarah Pulfer chose to take action.
She decided to start a Neighbourhood Watch group to make the area more secure.
“The police are great, but I just thought we are responsible, as well, for not giving people an opportunity,” she said.
“I just think we are all responsible for what happens in our community.” Her White Rock group is among 28 in the Far North, which extends from Innisfail to Weipa, and they will join celebrations for the state’s inaugural Neighbourhood Watch Week, which runs until Friday.
Cairns police Senior Constable Heidi Marek, who coordinates NHW, said groups continued to thrive in the Far North, particularly with the advent of e-Watch groups.
“NHW has the benefit of being able to move with the times and evolve into the types of NHW groups that everyone in the community can be a part of,” she said.
Ms Pulfer and NHW police liaison officer Senior Constable Paul Latter were recently named as state finalists for the neighbourhood watch awards.
Cairns boasts Queensland’s oldest NHW group, the Edmonton branch, which has operated for more than 20 years. OUR hyper-wired children have the world at their fingertips – but the information overload risks crowding their heads, warn educators and mental health experts.
One of the nation’s leading mental health services for schools says the saturation of online games, information and social media was resulting in children suffering “FOMA” – the “fear of missing out”.
The Principals Australia Institute, which delivers the mental health program KidsMatters and MindMatters to schools, has urged parents to let children understand “it’s OK not to know”.
The mounting pressure on children to be digitally connected was leaving them with anxiety when they were not connected, said Victoria Ninnes, a mental health worker and senior project officer with the Principals Australia Institute.
“The FOMA they experience when not checking their phones or other devices leads to increased levels of anxiety,” said Ms Ninnes. “Kids need to learn to switch off.”
Far Northern principals agree. Edge Hill State School principal Paul Campbell said it was important for children to have downtime.
“We want kids to be happy and healthy and as part of that they need to develop good social skills, have a range of activities and develop a broad range of interests … activities to develop problems solving abilities and develop creativity,” he said.
Trinity Beach State School principal Matthew Denzin agreed. “It’s absolutely critical that kids develop mentally as they grow up to get a really well rounded balance,” he said.