One day not enough to honour children, MHECC says
By Jeremy Appel on November 18, 2017.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel Medicine Hat Early Childhood Coalition is using several days next week to honour National Child’s Day, which falls on Monday. Whereas in previous years MHECC has hosted an event only on the actual day, they decided to expand it this year, with a focus on a child’s right to be safe. “What’s happened this year is we’ve actually had our coalition come together to offer a whole week full of activities,” said Jennifer Usher, MHECC’s chairperson. “Usually we just do some kind of a free play day at the YMCA, but this year’s theme is ‘it’s our right to be safe,’ and we felt that it just didn’t fit with just a simple play day.” Usher said the emphasis on safety comes from the UN Convention on the Rights of Children. “It’s important that we realize that children are citizens of the world and have certain rights that are in need of protection,” Usher said. The week of events kicks off on Sunday at the YMCA with a water safety presentation from 1-1:30 p.m. It’s followed by a free family swim from 1:30-3 p.m. On National Child’s Day itself, there’s a cellphone safety and digital citizenship presentation by the MHPS at McMan Parent Link at Southview School from 6-7 p.m. And on Wednesday there’s a “Little Warriors Workshop” at Medicine Hat College’s Crowfoot room from 6-9 p.m. to teach parents how to help prevent child sexual abuse. Those interested can register at http://www.littlewarriors.ca. For a full schedule of events, visit the MHECC’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MedHatECC. 12
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