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Tiama 1w we The kids Sue van der Velden left Design Arts student at Georgian College will be assisting arl Dixon and programme coordinator Michelle LeChance with YAC summer program for teens The headquarters for the operation is located at 29 Collier Street The three have been working to get it cleaned up and in shape for the beginning of the program Monday Examiner Photo The Angus childrens pro gram will will be carried out this year by Community In sight Program 77 The pro gram is sponsored jointly by the Simcoe County Separtate School Board and the Ontario Ministry of Education Brian Bond project leader says the program is voluntary so children who go away on holidays or for some other reason can fit right back in We will be having good variety of projects for the kids to get involved in There will be visits ffrom groups such as the OPP and we will be going on short trips The group will have the use of the Simcoe Street School gymnasium as well for sports such as floor hockey volleyball basketball and the showing of films Drama music dance ens program being in AngUS nature studies hikes camp arts and crafts and sports are all included in the pro gram which is open to kids from six to 15 Registration will take place on Monday July at Our Lady of Grace School from am to pm at the playground The program will run from July to August 19 Monday to Friday 9am to Lawyer John Wrigley left talked with organizer Don Jackson atid Joe McReynolds right of the Ministry of Community and Social Services about child abuse after speaking to the 130 people gathered an allday seminar on abuse Examiner Photo Bambi complex decried by laWyer at seminar Parents rights are ignored in child abuse cases says John Wrigley Barrie lawyer He says public outrage over battered children has developed into state of blind ness toward parents pro blems have particular concern in this area that has arisen in child abuse cases have handl ed she said at daylong seminar on child abuse He calls it the Bambi com plex and attitude in which eo ple see only the needs of ild in an abused situation He says it results in little regard for parents If an adult is shot people are upset he said But child is threatedned they are horrified Wrigley says social workers should show more compassion for parents and presented those at the seminar with bill of rights for parents They should have frequent and controlled access to their child to avoid hostility with social agencies he said While contingency lans are often made in court or viSits he explained they often fall short and result in deep disap pointinent and hostility in parents Parents should have the right of immediate re association with their children on structured and consistent basis he said CONFIDENTIAL The Barrie lawyer also wants discussions between parents and clients kept confidential mother who bares her soul to her lawyer can be shown up in court for what she has said he said Their evidence should not be used against them He also said parents should have the right to privacy in their own home and accused social workers of abusing that right Nowhere else does anyone have such wide powers to in terfere with the privacy of an individual he said He wants social workers to have warrants before doing such things as checking child for bruises Taking child away into another room and stripping them to check for injury is very degrading process to put parent throught he said Wrigley said legislation re quiring Justice of the Peaccs signature on warrants would contribute to an aura of trust Other rights were that of be ing able to have caseworker dropped if there was unsolvable conflict and having the right of custody taken away only as last resort INDEPENDENT Wrigley also wants indepen dent lawyers appointcd to do fend children in neglect and abuse suits He says the Childrens Aid Society which usually acts for the child cant be totally objec tive suggest the Childrens Aid Society has the role of the crow although it may want the best interestsof the child he said Wrigley says legal child abuse cases are part of the adversary system with the CAS on one side and lawyers on theother The lawyer is there to repre sent the rights of the parents and most parents will deny abuse he said The only adequate protection for child can come from representation by an indepen dent person says Wrigley That person would have the right to question and cross examineparents social workers and police And they would have the right to present full argu ment he said Wrigleys speech sparked the anger of one social worker MAIN AIM We dont like to take the adversary system she said Our main aim is to make sure whatever happened doesnt happen again She countered Wrigleys claims workers teel slighted when they are rejected and that frustrated social Workers will use methods such as threatening to rename the child to get their way The preschooler has no one to defend himself she said We are there to help them and going into the home and checking out the situation is part of that By PAT GUERGIS Examiner Staff Reporter Looking for something to do with the kids for the summer Help is on the way Registrations are now being taken for day camps in most areas of Simcoe County As well the County of Simcoe Recreation Department will be holding water safety programs throughout the county The Barrie Christian Workshop will hold oneweek program for youngsters from Kindergarten to Grade 13 July to Community Insight Pro gram in Angus will take chil dren from the ages of six to 15 for daily summer program If you are teen and you are looking for something to do this summer try YAC The Barrie Department of Recreation is sponsoring Youth Activity Centre YAC for Barrie teens from 13 to 17 from June 27 to Sept Michelle LeChance recent sociology graduate from Mc Master University and recreation supervisor last year will be heading the program We are aiming for flexi ble opentype program which will allow the teens to decide what they want to do The program will include pot which will run from July to August 19 In Barrie layground is new program being introduced this summer Music arts and crafts drama hiking and sports are part of the programme being offered at the playgrounds Children aged five to 12 years may join at cost of $10 per child for the period of July to August 19 TOT DROP The Barrie Department of Recreation is offering new program called Tot Drop This is service to parents who want few hours for shopping visiting etc supervised playground at Centennial Park will be available Monday to something for teens tery making batik macrame sports mu51c instruction and enjoyment cooking lessons and trips to various places among other things PLAY IT BY EAR Sue van der Velden Design Arts student at Georgian Col lege will be in charge of crafts The program will be flexi ble the kids will decide what they want to do and when Some things will have to be planned and done at certain times but we dont want anyone to feel they are forced to do something they arent interested in Carl Dixon graduate of childrens Friday for any parent to drop off child Children will be offered arts and crafts games songs and the supervised use of large playground area nominal fee will be charged for the service which will accept children five years of age and up program for teens 14 to 16 years is being offered as leaderontraining course by the Barrie Recreation Depart ment The purpose of this program is to develop future playground and community leaders The dates are June 27 to Aug 19 and there is no fee For more information on the programs offered by the Barrie North Collegiate in Barrie will supervise sports and music Playing both guitar and drums Carl says he will be glad to pass on what he has learned to someone who is in terestcd For sports will wait to see what the kids want to do We have lined up facilities and equipment so that we can get involved in just about anyting including baseball tennis swimming horseback riding Its not structured its very open flexible program Miss LeChance said It will give the kids chance to do things Recreation Department call Sandra Laking at 7264242 ex tension 277 The Barrie is offering sum mer prcgrams for children six to 12 years day camp pro gram is almost filled ac cording to Heather Fraser Camp Director There is room only in the Aug 15 to 26 group About 600 children will be in cluded in the four camps which will be held at the Gables on Tollendale Road As well the is offering fitness room for teens Monday and Wednesday high school open gym on Friday high school recreation gym girls gym class and boys gym class with their friends that they couldnt normally do Its educational and as con tinuing program it takes in lot of people who for one reason or another wouldnt fit into some of the other recreation programs The centre will be open Mon day Tuesday Thursday and Friday from 930 am to 430 pm and Wednesday evening from 430 to 1130 pm when dances may be held The initail fee of $10 person for 10 weeks covers most ex penses Highcost events such as certain bus trips camping Christian WorkshOp Organizers of the sixth Barrie Christian workshop are prepar ing their summer program which will run from July to July Children between Kindergar ten and Grade 13 as well as three adult classes are included in the daily workshops which are designed to present Jesus Christ in an interesting and ap pealing way and to help children rediscover the fun and excitement of learning and suc cessful achievement There are 14 Discovery Courses geared to the various age groups For the Kindergarten chil dren there is Kiddie Collage planned around playing singing and makingthinks Creativity in arts and crafts is the aim of Crafty Fingers for th children entering Grades and The girls Grade to group will have the opportunity to learn to bake in the Holiday Homemakers group Copper Craft is the name of the program for boys entering Grades to Girls entering Grades to may take creative crafts Working with wood knitting with two needles and crocheting with one is the ob ject of Sitten Knitten for girls entering Grades to Sewing is Fun for girls in Grades to will teach them how to lay out cut assemble and use sewing machine Girls aged 15 to 19 can learn how to make their own pattern from picture in Fashion Fun Learning to smock pillow is the theme of the program for the girls aged 15 and up For girls age 12 and up crocheting classes are available Basic electricity of How to avoid shocking experience 10 to 15 years will teach the dos and donts or dealing with elec tricity They may also make something to use Basic carpentry for boys entering Grades to will assist them in learninghow to build something useful and in teresting out of wood How to begin and expand stamp collection can be learned by boys and girls age nine to 13 years Parents will be invited to at tend barbecue on July to see the work displays enjoy the program and learn what the young people have accomplish Registration is $3 course For more information and registration forms write to Mrs Julia Mills 32 Blake St Barrie lifestyle County ranks lth in abuse figures By SLE ROLTLIFFE Examiner Staff Reporter Civic Square Towers to floor officc was not place for weak people last Wednesday Pictures of children who had been whipped whose toes were held against burners and whose backs were bruised and beaten were mounten in montage small movie screen reflected faces of women who had killed or abused their children and traced their tor ment as to why The pictures and movies were part of daylong child abuse seminar and they showed just the right amount of con cern in dealing with endofthe day rccommendat ions What remains to be seen is how effective the whole ex erciso was It was organized one of five seminars by group who hope it was effective Simcoe County child abuse committee STAFFEI BY The committee appointed by the local branch of the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services has the follow ing is staffed by people from the Childrens Aid Society irSimcoc ountys Public Health Unit Simcoe onnty Public anti separate school boards Georgian College in Barrie provincial family court Simcoe ounty social ser vice office Harrie city police the ministry of Community and Social Service and the Addiction Research Foundation Dr Raymond Asquith Bar rie jwdiatrician dealing with child abuse cases also sits on the committee Simcoe County has child abuse problem lltli of 31 It ranks 11th out of 51 counties in Ontario in the severity of its cases Local committees are one means the ministry hopes can be used to alleviate the pro blein says Joe Mcltcynolds local ministry official After two years ago the ministry felt it would be effec tive to organize committee who would acquaint the public with the problem he said We decided to attempt the involve the different agencies and communities to bring them together and get them comfortable with common understanding of abuse he said Simcoe Countys abuse com mittee has taken unique ap proach says McReynolds They decided to hold five seminars one in each of the larger centres of the county he said This is something new he added The problem has rare ly been dealt with in termsof local areas The first in Alliston sparked the establishment of local subcommittee Last weeks seminar resulted in plans to have committee work jointly with an existing Friends of the Court group established month ago to combine efforts of social agen cies Recommendations were made through group discus sions Consensus was at the end of the meeting that some inter agency interprofessional com munity team was needed People agreed government funding would be necessity and said there would be pro blems with interprofessional jealousies All agreed people arent educated about child abuse The to discussion groups working through the afternoon session said more educational programs are needed starting with primary school classes teaching children what it is like to be parent PARENTS ANONYMOUS People also felt Parents Anonymous group for parents with abuse problems could find support and some recomm mended hotline for abusers be established Agency workers admitth there is lack of understanding between agencies handling abuse cases One discussion group leader said reaction sheets filled out by each person generally in dicated workers arent certain where case responsibilities lic She said continual turnover in employees distance between agencies limitations of power lack of knowledge of law and lack of knowledge on some parts of what signs of child abuse are were listed as con tributing factors to the pro blems People at the seminar said local child abuse registries would be valuable tools to keep all agencies informed and said the problem with our child abuse laws is that they are not being enforced said group leader Jean Stevenson The feeling was we need to enforce it more to develop to peoples moral respon sibilities she said As far as one organizer was concerned those recommenda tions were an indication of suc cess for the Barrie seminar Manley Chew ministry worker and member of the county child abuse committee says attendance was nother promising indication of in terest 130 AT SEMINAR Some 60 people came to the Alliston seminar while it was standing room only in Barrie with about 130 people Chew says the child abuse committee got what it wanted We wanted to identify local concerns and use local people in our seminars he said Chew says the group had the money to bring in prominent speakers from as far away Chew says the group had the money to bring inent speakers from as far way but decided to draw on local speakers Thats pretty good draw ing card here and think its made the difference The next step for workers at tending the sminar is to return to their agencies and talk about what has been said would suggest to each of you that you should think as an agency of how you would like to work as community group said Judge Morton at the end of the day Perhaps it would be sie to have joint meeting in September to discuss what each agency has decided Ernie Vaillancourt Childrens Aid Scoiety social worker discusle child abuse and preventive measures last Week in the examiner Wednesday June 22 1977 19 Summers here and what are they going to do Beginning July the will be holding recreational swims for children and adults at various times For times check with the at 7266421 ALTERNATIVES ry your public library Many libraries in the County are offering activities for children of all ages Films story hours arts and crafts are among activities offered Books filled with ideas on how to cope with children and how to keep them from getting bored may be found at the library also Check with your local tourist association or The Examiners Leisure Page Thursday to see what events are happening in trips the pottery project and shirts for batiking may have to be supported by participants The YAC headquarters is located on Dunlop St in the lower floor of building owned by the city We have cleaned it all out and put rough coat of paint on the walls but the main part of the decoratin is going to be done by the ids said Miss LeChance Graphic deisngs posters and some graffitti are expected to give the room teen decor We have everything just about ready to go LeChance More stories on page 20 Few prosecuted for child abuse Ten children died at the hands of their parents last year in Ontario They were the ones who didnt survive incidents of child abuse and neglect Another reported 172 children were subjected to some form of abuse and survived Cases listed in Ontarios child abuse registry established in 1970 with 407 initial cases reported show steady in crease in incidents of abuse and neglect Legal action remains scat tered Only 86 charges were laid from reported 769 cases in 1975 Of those 85 all but 13 escaped criminal conviction Child abuse is primarily provincial concer The federal government backs provincial laws with funds for programs and the Criminal Code It is the provinces which enact legislation to protect bat tered children and it is the pro vinces which intervene in serious cases where the child is under certain age The federal government con cerns itself with people found guilty of endangering morals abandoning or neglecting children committing sex of fences and using abusive methods of discipline ONTARIO ACTS Ontario has acted to slow the rate of growth of reported abuse cases on the local level with the establishment of child abuse committees in counties It was one of those commit tees which met last week in Barrie to discuss with social workers and all others concern about abuse and solutions to the problem In Ontario child abuse legislation requires people with knowledge of children who have been battered abandoned or neglected are required by law to report those cases But reports indicate only part of the problem say ministry of ficials federal committee on abuse and neglect says some 1100 cases were reported across the country in 1973 but said the real number could be far dif ferent Other authorities place the figure much higher the report released last years says The committee found in the area Many are free and geared to the interests of children Try hiking with your children take icnic lunch along its goo way to pass day You can make nature hunt out of it gathering an ob ject for each letter of the alphabet Encourage the kids to make friend of senior citizen in your area Many hours can be spent trading stories and the com pany will most likely be ap preciated Take the opportunity to teach the kids some of your skills Hold regular classes in cook ing hair care painting gardening or share good book says But we still need people to donate time to assist in some areas such as drama She stressed that the centre is not drop in centre it is an activity centre and 29 Dunlop St is just the head quarters Many of the activities will take place at other loca tions All the talents interests and knowledge of these three young people are going into the pro gram and its easy to see they are excited about it The most important thing is we want the kids to have funl1i5sleChance said c1dcnts of actual battering rcltivcly low in the full picture Children who fail to thrive through lack of love or who are mistreated in other ways are just as abused it said OFTEN SlllERINl Parents abusing their children are often suffering mental illness or alcohol pro blems the committee said and one of the most widespread group of offenders number those who punish children for their own good The federal committee chaired by Ken Robinson MPP Lakeshore West wants legisla tion changed and public educa tion programs launched to alleviatethe situation Under present legal provi sions spouses cant be compell ed to testify against their mates The committee found this barrier to prosecution in child abuse cases where there are seldom any other wit nesses 1t pointed out the criminal code offers little by way of preventing or treating child neglect or abuse other than registered conviction which means children are separtaed from their parents The committee report said people are unwilling to report suspected abuse cases and said public demand for punishment of parents as an emotional reaction to publicity May cloud both the real issues and kgraviding for families in trou 1e The federal report contains 12 recommendations involving preventive services research the criminal code and reg istries WANT HELP Committee members want governments to make committ ments in assisting families in the childrearing process and in assisting in the development of community resources Block parent programs were recommended to prevent abuse incidents along with communi ty health and social services community centres and home visits to new parents The report recommends children learn about the child rearing process from primary school on through secondary school and wants central registries on abuse established on provincial levels one of to discussion groups held during daylong session Organizers hope to establish agency cooperation through such seminars Examiner Photo