Making smart decisions and staying safe in your community will be the focus of an upcoming course for children and youth in Penhold.
The course is being offered by the Penhold FCSS and will cover a number of topics including street safety, dealing with strangers, and responding to emergencies.
Safe at Home/Streetwise will be running on April 7, and is a course open to all children and youth 7-12-years-old.
One of the speakers at the course will be Penhold Fire Chief Jim Pendergast, who will be speaking on fire safety in the home and will be doing a demonstration on how fast firefighters can get dressed in their suits.
One of the Penhold Community Peace Officers will also be speaking at the course and will be talking about street safety, strangers, and the best way to deal with an emergency situation on the street.
“We want the kids to get to meet the fire chief and peace officers so they know that they are there to help and are not scary people,” said Gloria Bulmer, Penhold FCSS community worker.
“Also if I was to stand there and talk to the kids they wouldn’t listen that intently but when we get someone up there in uniform they listen.”
The course will also teach the children how to deal with bullying and how to deal with older teenagers who might be causing trouble, said Bulmer.
The Penhold FCSS has been running the course for several years and it was formerly called the Staying Home Alone course.
“We stopped calling it the Home Alone course because we still don’t want parents to think it’s okay to leave their children alone,” said Bulmer.
The cost of the course $10 per child and it will be held at the Penhold drop-in centre.
"We want the kids to get to meet the fire chief and peace officers so they know that they are there to help and are not scary people."
Gloria Bulmer
Penhold FCSS community worker
