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Communication between adults and children is the key

For anyone who watched M-Net’s “Carte Blanche” on Sunday 25 June, the facts were quite scary. Children as young as NINE years old are being caught with hard drugs and treated in rehabilitation facilities.
For all the parents or even grandparents reading this, get the words “Oh them” out of your heads. Drugs do not discriminate on racial grounds or cultural backgrounds. For all you know, the kid in the room with you right now has already experimented or is using some form of narcotic. Evil’s best friend is denial. Like the old saying goes, it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe in the devil, He believes in you.

My true belief is that good parenting and open, honest communication between adults and children is the key to not even starting the problem. I have had parents come to me with their 16 year old son. “DO something,” they order me “He is out of control!” My simple answer to that is, “Where have you been while he was getting worse? Where have you been for the last 16 years? Why did you wait so long to get help?

If a child is curious about something and you say, “Don’t touch that. That is not for you!” What have you done other than prick his curiosity even further? When my father threatened to skin me alive if he caught me drinking before I was 18, all I did was make sure he never caught me. Surely it would be better if we explained, to even a small child, why they should not touch or play with a certain thing. This can apply from prescription pills to kitchen knives.

We need to be on an equal footing in knowledge about drugs and similar things. If we can’t have an intelligent conversation with our kids other than saying “Don’t do that.” they will laugh us off as ignorant. How can adults guide and teach the youth if we know nothing about what is going on in their lives?

I encourage as many parents as possible to read up on what drugs are available and what they do to a person. Find out where they are sold, how much they cost and then look at where your child goes and how much they are spending. Educate yourself. It is firstly empowering, but also you can recognise symptoms of abuse early and make rational decisions about what to do next. If your son is smoking dagga because its escapism from bullies at school, will getting hysterical and punishing him help or harm the situation? If you are not able, get a councillor to assist you.

If you honestly do not know what dagga or even cocaine looks or smells like, ask me, ask someone. Support is available if you want it, but dare I remind you about denial?

I really need to talk about one drug in particular. It kills tens of thousands of people a year. A dozen or more innocent people can be killed in an instant by one abuser. It is advertised in public media, widely distributed and even given away for free. Best of all, it’s legal. Alcohol.
I dare not light a cigarette at an outdoor cricket stadium, but I can get blind drunk and fall about to my heart’s content. What example are we giving our children when we drink around them? Does your daughter or son see you drag yourself home, get half undressed in the passage and fall asleep noisily on the stairs? Are you even mildly surprised when the Principal of their school phones and tells you dagga was found in their possession? Yes, it is the same thing. If you as an adult abuse something, your child will follow suit. You are the role model. No excuses. A young person lacks one very important factor in their lives, the wisdom of age. Bluntly, they don’t know any better if you don’t show them. If you drink alcohol, that is your choice as an adult. Do so responsibly and be aware that little eyes are watching you.

Const. Stephen Clark

It is hard to believe that we are already into our fourth edition of Crime Zero and still growing. It has been rewarding to see the response to the magazine as distinguished writers have come forward to offer top class articles on all aspects of crime, from the origination, prevention, to good sound advice.
From September, Crime Zero will become a monthly magazine which now includes the Pinetown CPF. Due to the positive input received so far, it will now cover Westville and Pinetown up to Kloof.
We have some excellent articles in this edition with focus on the awareness of Human Trafficking.    This, sadly, is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. You may feel that you don’t want to hear about it, but it is happening right here and it is our duty to get this message out there, loud and clear, to our youth who are the main targets of this evil. We /they need to be aware of false advertising that lures the unsuspecting victims into this form of modern slavery. Be wary of classified advertising in newspapers as well as jobs advertised on the internet. Treat everything with suspicion until proven otherwise
Once again, our thanks to the community and our advertisers for their positive input, which we believe is already making a difference.

WELL DONE TO OUR CRIMEZERO WINNERS!

JUNIOR COPS COLOURING-IN COMPETITION

From left to right
Pat McCullam of The Toy Shop, Pavilion, and Shirley Palmer of CrimeZero
presenting the prizes to
Sven Kriese (8) of Westville Junior Primary School,
Qhawe Zakwe (10) of Durban Primary School and
Amahle Mkhize (4) of Hatton Estate Pre-Primary School.

Prizes were a beautiful remote control car, 2000 piece quality puzzle and large doll set

WORDFINDER COMPETITION

Congratulations to Daniel Howells (14) of Cowies Hill for winning the fantastic prize of an Anti-Smash & Grab tinted security fitment worth R1450 from Smart Auto Solutions! Daniel goes to Thomas More College.

Questions & Answers

by Shirley Palmer

The most frequent questions being asked are from people wanting to have up to date information on crime in the area. The police are not allowed to release all statistics to the public but at the community meetings graphs are shown which appear on their website. Anyone is welcome though to go to the station and ask to view the maps of Westville with the different types of crime pin-pointed in the sector areas. This is the most up to date information. Read the rest of this entry »