I was reading the paper (May 27 issue of the Innisfail Province) this morning, when I came across the picture of the BMX rider on page 5.
While the picture itself is a fantastic shot of a rider doing a BMX trick, I am extremely disappointed that both the photographer and the editor overlooked the fact that the child is not wearing a helmet.
It was my eight-year-old son who brought this to my attention.
In Alberta, children under the age of 18 are required to wear a helmet by law.
By publishing this picture, the Innisfail Province is condoning this behaviour.
My son is well aware of the importance of wearing a helmet, but a more easily influenced child could look at this picture and think it's cool not to wear a helmet, since the child in the photo made it into the paper.
I hope that in the future, the Innisfail Province will look more closely at its pictures prior to publishing and hope that all future pictures of riders will be ones where the rider is wearing a helmet. This is not the first time the Innisfail Province has published a picture of a rider without a helmet, but I do hope it's the last.
Coreen Nelson
Penhold
