Kelowna gets anti-gang funds
City to share in $1.2 million in provincial funding to steer students away from gangs
Kelowna is one of 12 cities in the province to receive funding aimed at preventing youth from joining gangs.
The province is investing $1.2 million in a school-based gang-prevention program called Expect Respect and a Safe Education.
The 12 participating cities were identified by police and safety experts as those that could benefit from additional gang-prevention support, the province said in a news release.
Kelowna was the only Okanagan city identified.
“We do know there are adult gangs that operate in our region, and they do recruit young people at times, so we want to make sure that our youth and families and our staff are informed,” said Central Okanagan school district superintendent Kevin Kaardal.
Students, parents, educators, law-enforcement officials and representatives of local organizations will have access to sessions on gun and gang violence awareness and prevention, which will be provided by Safer Schools Together, a partner of the Ministry of Education.
Safer Schools Together will also develop a new provincial learning resource focused on gang prevention.
“Ending the gun and gang violence that’s taking young lives and threatening our communities will continue to require strong, strategic prevention and enforcement efforts,” said Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general.
Kaardal, who was a superintendent in Burnaby before coming to the Okanagan, said Kelowna does not have the same level of youth involved in gangs as in the Lower Mainland, but there are still issues here.
“We do know we have some students who are loosely affiliated with some of these organizations, and we work with them to try and make the best choices possible,” he said. “Criminality and black market activities seem to exist everywhere.”
Preventing such activity is the key, said Kaardal.
“We need to make sure that we’re being proactive in our response, not just reactive,” he said.
Programs will be customized based on specific needs in each community, said Al Lalonde, district principal of learning support services.
“Some of what (Safer Schools Together staff) is doing with our counsellors and support staff would be to train them to make them aware,” said Lalonde.
This could include teaching staff to be aware of changes in behaviour in students, he said.
The ERASE program will enhance work the district has already been doing, said Kaardal.
“This is just a new set of resources and resource people to come support the journey we’ve already been going down, which is teaching resiliency and good choices,” he said. “We hope (students) are more resilient, and we hope they make great choices so they can live healthy and productive lives.”
Part of the government funding will go to the B.C. School Superintendents Association to partner with the Boys Club Network in all 12 cities, to create safe spaces for boys ages 12 to 19.
“All adolescent boys, not just boys conventionally identified as being at risk through social or economic circumstances, benefit demonstrably from the consistent fortification of mentorship, moral courage and authentic hope offered in our after-school clubs and local curriculum,” said Walter Mustapich, president and cofounder of Boys Club Network.