Pink Shirt Day is an annual one-day campaign to raise awareness about anti-bullying programs that help youth who need it the most.
Pink Shirt Day originated in Berwick, Nova Scotia in 2007 when two classmates of a boy bullied for wearing pink decided to do something about it. They purchased 50 pink shirts and encouraged other students to wear them in a united, visual stand against bullying.
Pink Shirt Day is now celebrated as a national anti-bullying event in 25 countries, and has been recognized by the United Nations since 2012.
Bullying is Not Okay
Bullying hurts physically and emotionally. In extreme cases it can cause victims to take their own lives in feelings of desolation or helplessness.
Amanda Todd (2012) and Rehtaeh Parsons (2013), two Canadian teens, both committed suicide after being bullied online.
The television was perched on top of a dresser that Isabelle was reaching into for some clothing. The heavy, unstable TV toppled onto her, causing a fatal injury to her head.
In another incident, 22-month old Everett Smith suffered multiple skull fractures when a television fell onto him at the family’s summer cottage.
His father was reaching for a set of keys from a table when he accidently knocked a tv over, causing it to fall onto Everett. Thankfully, the infant made a full recovery from his serious injuries.
TVs Ranked 3rd in the Top 5 Hidden Home Hazards
Injuries to children caused by falling televisions are increasing dramatically as evidenced by the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.
Toddlers aged 1-3 are the most vulnerable
Newer televisions are taller, wider and increasingly top-heavy. Unsecured big-screen TVs are easily knocked over by young children while climbing on furniture, or playing closeby.
From 2011 to 2013, a total of 33 children were treated at Toronto Sick Kids Hospital after being struck by falling televisions. The most common injuries have been neck and head injuries, including skull fractures.
Impact of a TV Falling Onto a Small Child can be Devastating
A typical 36″ TV falling just 1 metre can create the momentum equivalent to a 1-year old child falling from a 10-story building.
The majority (84%) of child injuries caused by falling TVs have occurred in the child’s home; more than three-fourths of the injury-causing incidents happened unwitnessed by an adult caregiver.
How To Prevent A TV From Falling Onto a Child
Injuries caused by falling TVs are 100% preventable. Here is what you can do to keep kids safe:
Use a proper television stand– avoid placing TV on high or unstable furniture
Secure TV to the wall or to the television stand
Anchor TV-holding furniture such as dressers and vanities to the wall
Place TV back from edge of furniture
Avoid putting toys or remote control devices on top of TV
Keep play areas away from floor areas where TV could fall
Caution children and caregivers/baby sitters about the dangers of a falling TV
The Consumers Electronics Association has published a TV Placement Safety flyer with more excellent child safety tips.
Planning a trip to the sunny south? Be aware of a growing health concern for travellers…. mosquitoes that transmit dangerous and sometimes deadly viruses.
Dengue , Zika and West Nile, three related mosquito-borne viruses, are increasing at an alarming rate.
Half The World’s Population Now at Risk from Dengue Fever
Transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, Zika virus typically results in a mild fever, skin rash and conjunctivitis.
There is growing evidence this virus is a much bigger risk for pregnant women, with the potential to cause deformities in unborn babies.
West Nile Virus in Canada
In Canada, we face our own viral threat from mosquito bites — West Nile.
More than 5,000 West Nile virus cases have been reported in Canada since the virus was first detected in Ontario in 2002.
Symptoms and signs of West Nile virus include fever, headache, body aches, skin rash, and swollen lymph nodes.
Severe symptoms and signs may include stiff neck, sleepiness, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, and paralysis. Most cases of West Nile virus infection are mild and go unreported.
Preventing Mosquito-Borne Viral Infections
There are no vaccines or specific treatments available for the Dengue, Zika or West Nile viruses
The best prevention is to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes
Reduce Your Risk of Mosquito Bites
Whether you are travelling to other countries or staying here in Canada, there are precautions you can take to stay safe from mosquitoes:
Wear long sleeve shirts and pants; preferably light-coloured clothing
Use mosquito repellant
Keep doors and windows screened or closed
Sleep under a mosquito net
Take extra precautions during peak mosquito-biting periods — early in the morning or in the evening before dusk.
Provide extra care for young children and elderly people who cannot protect themselves.
Empty or cover containers such as buckets, flower pots, etc. that can hold water; these can become mosquito-breeding sites.
A simple measure of how safe your neighbourhood is for children
“If an 8-year old can safely walk from home to a nearby convenience store, buy a popsicle and return home before it melts, the neighbourhood is deemed a safe and walkable place.”
Originally coined in 2003 by renowned Urban Planner and Vancouverite Larry Beasley, the Popsicle Test has been used for more than a decade as an informal benchmark for measuring safety and liveability in neighbourhoods.
Canadian neighbourhoods should seemingly have an easy time passing the popsicle test since our long, cold winters often allow people to walk all day with no worries about melting popsicles.
The underlying premise is the same though no matter what climate you live in:
Is your neighbourhood safe for children to walk and play? and
Are there places such as nearby retail or public spaces they can walk to?
If the neighbourhood works for children, it works for everyone.
Look At Your Neighbourhood Through the Eyes of a Child
Take a walk around your neighbourhood with your children, or with your neighbours and their children. Assess it from the kids’ perspective.
Are there places to explore, invent, play, imagine, cycle or do other kid-friendly activities?
Are the streets safe to cross?
Is there a risk or fear of violence?
Are there nearby retail or public places to walk to alone or with friends?
Are there neighbourhood recreational activities to take part in?
Are there other kids playing outside on a regular basis? (If not, why not?)
The answers to these questions will help to define your neighbourhood, and reveal what is good about it and what should be changed.
Make Your Neighbourhood a Better Place for Kids and Families
Get neighbourhood families together and create a plan– What changes would you like to see? Who is willing to help?
Determine the skills and in-kind services already available through the people living in your neighbourhood; you may have carpenters, coaches, planners and other skilled individuals living in your midst.
Connect with your elected officials, community leaders and local businesses to see what they can contribute towards neighbourhood enhancement.
On the evening of May 6, 2013, Tim Bosma, a 32-year old Ancaster, Ontario resident, left his home with two men on a test drive in his Dodge pick-up truck. He had recently posted the truck for sale on Kijiji and AutoTrader.
Tim Bosma never returned home. He was shot and killed inside his truck, and later that night his body was burned beyond recognition.
Although tragic incidents like this are rare, there are precautions you should take when selling items through an online service such as Kijiji or Craigslist.
5 Things You Can Do to Stay Safe When Selling Online
Meet in a Public Place Arrange to meet buyers in a public place where people are nearby — a local coffee shop, shopping mall, bank lobby or even a police station parking lot.
Avoid meeting the buyer in your home.
As the Seller, You are in Control You are in control of the time and place you meet, not the buyer. You be the one to dictate the terms of your meeting. Don’t be pressured into meeting in an uncomfortable location.
Wherever possible meet during daylight hours.
Get As Much Information From the Buyer As Possible Speak to the potential buyer over the phone ahead of your meeting. Record their phone number and any other relevant information.
When meeting, write down their vehicle license number.
If the buyer wants to test drive your vehicle, ask to see his/her driver’s license. Ensure it is current, and copy the license or write down the license number.
Take Precautions Tell a friend or family member where you are going to meet the buyer and when you plan to return.
Consider taking someone with you.
Keep your cell phone close.
If it is a large cash transaction, meet the buyer in a bank where you can make an immediate deposit and reduce your risk of robbery.
Do not reveal unnecessary personal information to the buyer.
Trust Your Instincts If the situation does not feel right, walk away.
A 46-year old Ann Arbor, Michigan woman found out earlier this winter how dangerous and costly driving with obstructed car windows can be when she passed a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing, and struck a teenager who had just exited the bus.
Her defense was that she hadn’t seen the flashing red lights or the young girl crossing the street.
Police noted the woman’s ice-covered car windows and charged her with careless driving. She received a fine and demerit points on her driver’s license. Fortunately, the injured teenager survived.
Don’t let this happen to you
Police can charge you with a traffic violation if you are operating a vehicle with frost-obstructed windows or mirrors.
If you have a collision because of this restricted visibility, you can be charged with careless driving, and that means demerit points and most likely an increase in your insurance premiums of up to 30%.
Worst of all, you will be endangering your life and the lives of others. It’s simply not worth it to save the time it takes to clear your vehicle windows and mirrors.
Tips to make ice-scraping your car windows easier
When you park your car for the night:
Cover your windshield with cardboard, a plastic sheet or large towel to prevent ice from freezing to the glass
Place plastic bags over your side mirrors
Leave your windshield wipers in a raised position, away from the window, so they don’t freeze to the glass
Use a de-icing spray on the windows and mirrors to make ice scraping easier. These sprays can be purchased at Walmart, Canadian Tire or other automotive stores.
Falls, traffic collisions, self-harm, assaults and fires are the top five injury priorities in the City of Windsor, Ontario. Together, these result in more than 6,900 visits to a hospital emergency ward and 53 deaths each year for Windsor residents.
A Community Working together
Police, fire, emergency services, city council, health, education, community groups, and citizens came together in December, 2015 to analyse the leading causes of injury and injury-related deaths in their community. Their initiative is called Safe City Windsor.
100+ community leaders & citizens working together to determine injury priorities in Windsor
This priority-setting session is the 1st step in Windsor’s bid to become designated as one of Canada’s safe communities by Parachute, a national charitable organization dedicated to preventing injuries and saving lives.
Started in 2014 by the Windsor Safety Village,Safe City Windsor now has a leadership table that includes the City of Windsor, Windsor Police, EMS Essex-Windsor, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Unifor, Windsor Fire & Rescue, The Safety Village, Windsor Regional Hospital, University of Windsor, Ford City, St Clair College, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and others.
Becoming Designated as a National Safe Community
Safe City Windsor has two more tasks to complete before the city is approved for national designation:
Carry out a community survey to measure the city’s readiness to embrace injury prevention programs and services.
Prepare an action plan that will reduce the number of injuries and injury-related deaths from the priority causes – falls, traffic collisions, self-harm, assaults and fires.
Windsor hopes to achieve its national safe community designation by June, 2016. It will then join a national network of 45 Canadian communities already designated as safe places.
My friend Bill has been a carpenter most of his life. Although not a safety fanatic, he is careful. Not today though.
Bill was in a rush because he’d promised his wife he’d be home early. He had one last thing to do on an all-day roof repair job and he was running late. Bill moved his ladder without taking the time to set it properly.
Stuffing a dozen nails between his teeth where they’d be easy to reach, Bill grabbed his hammer and scampered up the ladder. He’d just reached the top when the unsteady ladder gave way and Bill fell 18 feet onto the hard ground below.
Bill was lucky – no broken bones. Tragically though, the nails in his mouth were driven through his cheek when he hit the ground. The incautious carpenter spent the next 8 hours in a hospital emergency ward, and left with 11 stitches to his face and a scar for life.
Most often, the victim is a male between the ages 45-64 who falls while doing home repairs.
Women are not immune to ladder falls either, tallying almost 20% of the resulting emergency ward visits.
Common injuries include broken limbs, damage to the pelvis, back or abdomen, or injuries to the head or neck. In more serious cases, concussions or paralysis result in permanent damage.
10 Things to Prevent A Fall From A Ladder
Equipment
Use a CSA-approved ladder with no defects such as missing or broken rungs, loose screws or cracks.
Ladder rungs should be dry and free of mud, wet paint or grease.
Set Up
Place the ladder in an unobstructed location, away from unlocked doors.
The base of the ladder should be on level ground or levelled in a secure manner using stable blocking.
The distance from the feet of an extension ladder to the wall should be no more than 1/4 – 1/3 of the height of the wall it is reaching.
If the ladder has locking mechanisms, engage these when opening
Use
Wear slip-resistant shoes, free of grease, oil or other substances
Always face the ladder when climbing
When using a step-ladder do not stand higher than the 2nd rung from the top; for an extension ladder, no higher than the 4th rung from the top
Do not overreach – if your belt buckle crosses either side of the ladder, it’s time to go down and move the ladder.
Starting a “Little Free Library” is an easy way to bring neighbours together and create an affordable resource for everyone. More than 32,000 neighbourhoods around the world have embraced this idea.
A Little Free Library is a birdhouse-like structure where neighbours exchange books and magazines.
Once established, a little library becomes a ‘bumping place’ for area residents, where they meet to share books and conversation.
Tips on how to run and promote your neighbourhood’s little library
Locations of Little Libraries around the world
Their mandate is, “To promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide, and to build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity and wisdom across nations.”
Little Library Started in Brampton Neighbourhood
The Alexander Street Neighbourhood in Brampton, Ontario opened their Little Free Library in July 2013. During the past two years, hundreds of people have visited their cozy little sidewalk book exchange to borrow a book or leave a favourite for others to enjoy.
It took less than $100 for building materials and a handy neighbour to construct the little library.
Brampton’s Public Works department installed it for free, and a bench was donated to allow people to sit and browse through the mini-book collection.
A neighbourhood volunteer maintains the books and everyone donates used paperback novels, hard cover classics or popular magazines. It is an excellent book recycling facility and a source of pride for the neighbourhood.
Alexander Street neighbours celebrating their Little Free Library
One-in-four collisions with pedestrians happen when drivers are turning left, and a further 17% with drivers turning right– even when pedestrians have the right of way.
You probably don’t want to be ‘dead right’ so here are some things you can do to stay safe while walking near traffic.
You can’t stop drivers from using their phones, but you can be prepared. Adopt the mindset that drivers might not stop for red lights or cross walks – be absolutely certain it is safe before stepping from the curb onto the street.
Be visible to drivers– Most pedestrian fatalities happen at night.
From November to April each year, drivers are often travelling in the dark when going to and from work. Many of them haven’t adjusted to night-time driving conditions, and you may be invisible to them.
Wearing bright outerwear or using reflective strips or wearable led lights on your jacket makes you more visible.
Make the safe choice – Don’t take unnecessary chances to save a few moments. Too often pedestrians bolt across busy streets to catch their bus, or jaywalk instead of walking to the crosswalk.
Ask yourself, “Is it worth it?” before taking this kind of risk.
Bullied children are often those who are weaker or smaller, are shy or feel isolated from others.
Wear long sleeve shirts and pants; preferably light-coloured clothing
“If an 8-year old can safely walk from home to a nearby convenience store, buy a popsicle and return home before it melts, the neighbourhood is deemed a safe and walkable place.”
Police can charge you with a traffic violation if you are operating a vehicle with frost-obstructed windows or mirrors.
A Little Free Library is a birdhouse-like structure where neighbours exchange books and magazines.
At least 
Too often pedestrians bolt across busy streets to catch their bus, or jaywalk instead of walking to the crosswalk.