Monday, March 29, 2010

Neighborhood Safety

I'd like to propose a movement.  As grass roots as it gets.  Stick with me, this is completely non-political.  It crosses every demographic.

We need to CARE about each other.
When you are at a park, pay attention to everyone, talk to the other parents for a moment, tell them your name, ask them to take a look around the park and pay attention to people who avoid eye contact and seem out of place.

On the street, when you're walking, pay attention.  Watch out for the people around you.

My dear friend lost her cousin because people just weren't looking around.  Amber DuBois could have been rescued if other people's parents, other adults cared about the people around them more than getting where they were going.

Cell phones are a huge problem, when you drive with them, your world becomes 50% less clear, people disappear,  you literally don't see them because your attention is focused on your conversation.  Put the phones down, and stop being so centered on your social life and pay attention to your community.

We need to take care of one another, we need to be the first line of defense for our children.

We need to let these creeps know that Mommies and Daddies are their worst nightmares!  That not only are we watching them, we're taking care of everyone's children.  That I am protecting your children just as ferociously as I protect my own. I will put myself in harms way for your child.  I will speak up, and I will be there to protect them.

Amber wasn't my child, she was a friend's relative's child, she and Chelsea King deserved to live.  They deserved to be safe.  Lindsay Baum deserved to make it to her friend's house.  If her neighbors had been watching, just paying attention to their world as they drove or walked or biked through it, They all would have made it safely to their destination.

We can't afford to wait for the government to round up the nasties.  The Neighborhood Watch needs to be re-invented and reorganized.

WE the people need to care about one another. No more looking out for #1.  We need to look out for the children.  And it needs to happen NOW.

/soapbox (I need to go make cookies to take to the neighbors that moved in months ago that I never said hi to).

Missing and Exploited Children

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2 comments:

sarah @ life {sweet} life said...

So very true!! I am so sorry for your friend's loss...very hard no doubt when it hits so close to home...makes us realize that it can happen to anyone. Hope you are doing well! :)

Melba said...

Amen, Sister! It really does take a village to raise a child and this post is a good reminder!

Melba