Putting Safety First: Diocese offers resources at family event
By Mary Beth DeLisi
Correspondent
Keeping children healthy and safe remains a top priority for the Diocese of Metuchen and agencies within it that ensure that its youngest members are well cared for.
For this purpose, the diocese held its second Community Child Safety and Health Day Oct. 22 in the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway. Sponsored by the Office of Child Protection under Larry Nagle, director, the event was open to the public and held to inform families of health and safety measures critical to children’s well being.
Representatives from a dozen health, fire and law enforcement agencies and community organizations came out for the event, including Catholic Charities, the Middlesex County Fire Academy, Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department, New Jersey Child Assault Prevention, New Jersey Family Care, New Jersey State Police, North Stelton Fire Company, Piscataway Police Department, and St. Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick.
Also on hand to advocate safety were Sir Buckle Up and Darren the DARE lion, as well as volunteers from high schools of the diocese.
Nagle said his office coordinates Community Child Safety and Health Day as an outreach program “to let families know what’s available to them.”
Calling the event a collaborative effort, Nagle said it could not be accomplished without Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski and his commitment to children’s safety.
Five-year-old Austin Nee of Piscataway could not have been more excited after visiting the Piscataway Police Department’s bicycle safety display. “Look, Mom, I got a lock for my bike!” he exclaimed as he ran toward his mother, Kasey Nee.
Nee said she brought her children and their friends to “see what’s out there” in terms of health and safety.
Detective Calvin Laughlin of the Piscataway Police Department showed children a brain made from gelatin to show how fragile the organ is and stressed the importance of wearing a bike helmet. He also informed families that as of March 2006, all children 17 and under will be required to wear bicycle helmets. The current law only regulates children up to age 14.
Representatives from SPUH, along with the State Police, conducted height, weight and body mass index screenings, distributed nutritional information, and inspected infant and children car seats. When one six-year-old’s seat was deemed inadequate, the inspectors gave her a new seat appropriate for her height and weight.
Agents from Child Care Resources and Referral, a Perth Amboy-based program sponsored by Catholic Charities, spoke to parents about what to look for in a childcare provider. “We tell parents what basic quality childcare is,” said Nancy Lopez, who works for the agency. She said when interviewing childcare providers, parents should ask how the person is going to care for their children besides letting them watch TV, find out what activities the children will engage in to help them developmentally, and make sure the place of care is a safe and healthy environment.
Peggy Blais, director, Middlesex County office of New Jersey Child Assault Prevention, and Mary C. Rotunno, a CAP facilitator, said the most important lesson children should learn is to be confident in themselves. In addition to disseminating information at Community Child Safety and Health Day, the women have been bringing the CAP program to Catholic schools in the diocese since last spring, at the recommendation of Bishop Bootkoski.
Said Blais, “Children need to feel empowered to be confident in themselves. We talk to them about what to do if they’re bullied, teach self-defense tactics and teach them about touches and kisses. If something inappropriate happens to them, we tell them to keep telling adults until someone helps them. Children need to feel safe, whatever environment they’re in.”
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law