Parentsurgedto speaktochildren about needles
Both Holy Spirit Catholic School Division and Lethbridge Public School District 51 are encouraging parents to get informed on the hazards of discarded needles and speak to their children about those hazards, following two reports this past week of schoolage kids coming in contact with discarded drug needles; one of those on school grounds.
“I think it is something parents should be reviewing with their child at home,” says Holy Spirit superintendent Chris Smeaton. “Both school districts sent out a bulletin on this. That’s good information and it would probably be a great conversation for parents to have with children around the kitchen table.”
“I think there is definitely a heightened awareness and response,” agrees LSD 51 associate superintendent Morag Asquith, “But I do not want parents to take (these news reports) like there is a bed of needles everywhere, but to educate their kids on what is safe and what isn’t.”
The city is facing an unprecedented opioid crisis, says Smeaton, and it’s a reality all citizens, including school board staff and trustees, must acknowledge and adjust to.
“All of the custodians at most of our schools have been trained in sharps disposal,” explains Smeaton. “ARCHES has made presentations to the leaders of schools and our board of trustees. It’s a highlighted piece. We do know we have an opioid issue in our city, and to bury our head in the sand would be both ignorant and arrogant. I am very pleased with what ARCHES is doing to try to mitigate some of the issues we face out there.”
“With supervision on playgrounds, sharps training is the most important thing,” agrees Asquith. “And there definitely is a heightened awareness there for our supervisors on our playgrounds paying attention to what’s out there when they are walking around. Is this the first time (a kid finding a needle) has happened? Probably not. And will it be the last time? Probably not. I think the reporting on it has brought it closer to home for families.”
Smeaton says it is also important to keep these recent instances in context, while at the same time being proactive.
“I think it is a very rare occurrence,” he states. “I haven’t heard anything until this last year. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been in the past, but it is probably because the crisis we have in Lethbridge has intensified. We are working with ARCHES to see if they can provide some additional kidfriendly presentations. We want to make sure in all schools they have copied the information we sent out, and they are doing (awareness activities) classroom to classroom.”