# Keeping Children Safe- Please Read



## Redneck052 (1 Nov 2005)

On 23 November, it will be one year that our five year old son passed away.  Donavan passed away in a tragic household accident that we as parents can prevent.  

Our son died by accidental getting tangled in his detached house coat belt and slipping from his loft bed, his death was a accidental hanging.

You can learn more about this by visiting our web site that my wife and I established to honor our son, and to prevent this from happening to  another family if we can.  Please check out our site at www.donavanscampaign.com  tell your friends, family, and neighbours, pass it around, and please sign our guest book.

While you are there, take the 23rd Challenge.  The 23rd Challenge is for parents or care givers to take 15 minutes to look through your children's clothing for clothing that is safe, needs repair, or unsafe. Safe, Fix, or Remove. Once you are done your 15 minutes, Challenge your friends, family and neighbours to take the 15 minutes, then challenge more people.  Once you are all done, tell us and others about your 23rd Challenge on the website in the guest book.  Please do this every mouth on the 23rd, our family and friends are.

We wish to thank everyone for there encouragement, support, and comfort over the past year.  We will never be able to repay all of you.  Thank you.

We know that the brightest star, the warm summer breeze, the comforting feeling when no one else is around, the calm ocean at sunset, the bright colors at sunrise, the sound in the trees with the soft wind,    .......... is Donavan say to all of us, at it will all be alright.

I admit, humbly, I will close with tears in my eyes,

Thank you all, my friends.

"...through."

Don.

www.donavanscampaign.com


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## J.J (6 Apr 2006)

I had the misfortune of attending some training for work, it consisted of gathering, identifying and classifying Child Pornography. The instructor was Detective Constable S*** of Project P from the OPP. Project P is the Provincial Police Child Exploitation unit. The unit specializes in collecting and prosecuting individuals who posses, distribute and manufacture child pornography or those individuals attempting to make contact with children (luring).


Staying Safe
In a
Wired World

By Rob Nickel


This book helps even the most computer literate or illiterate person understand how the predator works, internet safety tips and how to monitor and understand what the child is doing online. Understanding “MSN speak” and other online activities we old folks do not quite understand.

The author Rob Nickel is a former Detective Constable with the OPP Project P and he has retired and wrote this book. D.C. S*** has given this book to family members, neighbours, colleagues etc. D.C S*** highly recommended this book for all LEO's, parents and/or educators.

I don’t know if maybe being a new father has made me more cognizant of this, I was very aware of this before, but I thought I would pass this on to everyone and hope it helps somebody


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## Spanky (6 Apr 2006)

Thanks for the resource.  As a teacher, parent, and soon to be grandparent, I'm aware of the fact that internet safety is a HUGE concern.  Not just from predators but, with cyber-bullying etc.


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## militarygal (6 Apr 2006)

Thank you for your concern. I hope that people(teens) will understand the concerns!


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## Redneck052 (16 May 2006)

You can never truely know all the risks and hazards that are out there.  However we do our best to protect and defend to keep our children safe.

We have car seats, booster seats, plugs for outlets, gates for rooms and stairs, door stops and door knob covers, we cover corners of furniture, and hide power bars.  The list could continue on for days with many measures that we do to protect or children that we may not even think of, but we have done.

On 23 Nov 04, the Kennedy family of CFB Esquimalt had a tragic accident in their home.  Their five year old son, Donavan, had gone to bed.  While in bed he had taken his unattached robe belt from his house coat, and some how it had gotten entangled around his neck.  He then had slipped or fell from the ladder of his loft bed becoming caught.  A family member found him shortly after.  Donavan was pronounced later that night at hospital, and the Kennedy family was without their five year old briliant boy.

From this darkness, The Kennedy's began a Campaign, www.donavanscaign.com , encouraging parents to secure their childrens house coat belts to the robe.  Simply sew an X at the center of the belt to the center of the housecoat.  This idea is so simple, to could have prevented the death of their son, and the injury of howmany others.

They have been campaigning to Health Canada to have the Guidelines changed, so that you can't but youth and toddler housecoats with dettachable belts, but this is slow going.  Your help, could help them, email Health Canada and tell them to look at www.donavanscampaign.com and their reccomendations.

Please tell other about it.  This is how changes are made.  This is how changes were made and why you can't buy children hoods with draw strings anymore.

*Take the 15 minute challenge*-  Take 15 minutes, go thriugh your kids clothing on the 23 of each month, *fix, replace, remove* any cloths that worn, torn, or that are unsafe. The call family, friends, and nieghbors, to challenge then to do the same.  The they call more people.  Then the next month on the 23, do the same thing.  Children use cloths, and sometimes we don't always see the condition that they are in until it is too late.

Your words of wisdom, thoughts, anything.......but please pass this to all you friends and family.

www.donavanscampaign.com


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## 2 Cdo (17 May 2006)

I honestly can't imagine the horror of finding your young child hanging by his neck, dead or dying! My sincerest condolences gomout to this family.


> Take the 15 minute challenge-  Take 15 minutes, go thriugh your kids clothing on the 23 of each month, fix, replace, remove any cloths that worn, torn, or that are unsafe. The call family, friends, and nieghbors, to challenge then to do the same.  The they call more people.  Then the next month on the 23, do the same thing.  Children use cloths, and sometimes we don't always see the condition that they are in until it is too late.



Sounds like a great idea for those with young children.


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## Ashes (18 May 2006)

Wow ! That's so sad, I'll be sure to do that. I have a little boy about to be 5 in June. Thank you for telling us about this.


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## Brat56 (18 May 2006)

How very sad indeed.
I drive a School Bus for a living and love it. At noon hour I take 21 Jr. & Sr. Kindergartens home and then bring in 12 in a 72 passenger bus. At the beginning of each school year, I let the parents know that I DO NOT ALLOW the kids to wear: scarves,boa's,hats that tie or hats that pull over the face. I get ALOT of flack at times from some parents until I explain why. Although this is NOT a School Board rule, it is my rule.
I'm there to drive this bus and make sure your child gets home safe ( it is all about saftey ). If a child has one of these items of clothing on, it could be a potential hazzard. Although the School Bus is not a place to play with your "seat buddy" kids will be kids and who knows who is going to grab the end of a scarf and pull on it? See my concern?

It would be horrible enough to find your own child in a situation as per the original post...I just won't put myself in the position of having to deal with it at my job.


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## Hunter (19 May 2006)

I am so sorry for their loss.  A few years back a friend of mine left her 3 year old girl in the living room watching tv while she had a quick shower.  She came back to find her daughter with the string attached to the venetian blinds in the window snared around her neck.  In her struggle to get free it was pulled tighter around her neck.  She lost her daughter and I don't think she will ever recover.

It's such a paradox - children are resilient but their lives are so fragile.  Since then I've never liked my daughter playing with anything like that.  When she was 4 or 5 she used to like to play with the belt from her housecoat to make a leash for her stuffed animals.  After that accident I went through her room and took away that belt and any other such things I could find.  She complained that it wasn't fair and I said hey I'm yer dad, fair has nothing to do with it.

I also remember something simliar happening to a rugby teammate of mine shortly after Ottawa got articulated buses in the 1980s.  Heammates got the drawstring of his team jacket caught in the doors as he was getting off the at back of the bus.  The bus pulled away from the curb and he was dragged under the back wheels of the bus.


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## shaunswife (24 May 2006)

tht is so sad, i guess we can never take anything for granted, or be to careful.  i feel for the family

ang


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## mariomike (1 Nov 2016)

An old thread, my apologies.

But, a good message,

In today's news,

Had she been in a booster seat a seatbelt would not have sliced her 6-year-old daughter's stomach open in the crash.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mom-warns-parents-after-seatbelt-slices-6-year-old-daughters-stomach-open/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=30575237


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