Safety Footprint Bookmarks for Children

The number one concern of all parents is the safety of their children. Despite this fact, most parents are uncomfortable about talking to their children about safety. Therefore, safety discussions revolve around simplistic tips such as "Don't talk to strangers" and "Look both ways before crossing the street".

The Safety Footprint is designed to make safety discussions fun and engaging to children while at the same time introducing them to the importance of being a safety conscious person. Having a large Safety Footprint corresponds to being safety conscious, while having a little Safety Footprint corresponds to being minimally safety conscious.

The animals footprints are used to provide children with a concrete measure of "safety consciousness". The Bird with it's tiny footprint is the least safety conscious. The Bird is also the most vulnerable of the five animals depicted. The Elephant on the other hand has the biggest and deepest footprint. It corresponds to being highly safety conscious. The Elephant with it's intelligence and huge size is the most impervious to attack of all the animals depicted.

The goal is to encourage young children to want to be safety conscious just as we encourage children to want succeed at sports, academics, and social situations.

Safety conscious elementary school children become safety conscious teenagers who become safety conscious adults and members of the community. As the person matures the concepts of safety follow an age appropriate linear progression.

The Safety Footprint bookmarks are a tools for encouraging and teaching pre-school and elementary school children the importance of being safety conscious.

Taylor Thomas

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/26398633/detail.html

WINTHROP, Mass. -- A 12-year-old Winthrop girl saved her mother's life after using some skills she learned in babysitting class.

Taylor Thomas, an honors student at Winthrop Middle School, was calm and collected when her mother nearly died on the morning of the blizzard that swept the region Dec. 26.

Her mom, Judy, rolled out of bed that morning and accidentally hit her elbow on her bed rail.

"I whacked my arm really hard and my body just shut down," Judy said.

"She was just out, kind of making funny noises, breathing-wise. I started panicking. I didn't know what to do," her husband Paul said.

Taylor did, thanks to a CPR training she got as part of a babysitting course she took through the local Parks and Recreation Department.

"I did have to, like, hold her nose and open her mouth and breathe in," said Taylor, who began chest compressions right away.

"She hopped over, jumped in, started doing CPR. Pretty amazing," said Paul. "I was trying to talk on the phone and I couldn't get 911 straight."

"She was obviously nervous, but she just reacted. What do you say?" her mother said.

The woman who trained Taylor was especially proud of her.

"I teach this class constantly. I'm constantly teaching these kids and I always wonder, 'Is somebody going to get it? Does anybody get it? Or are they just, the deer-in-the-headlights look?' So, it made me feel good that she knew what to do in the event of an emergency," Rose Mazzuchelli said.

Noah Strickland

http://www.ajc.com/news/henry/henry-county-boy-saves-777190.html

Henry County firefighters thought they were heading to battle a blaze at a Stockbridge home. Crews got to the home to find that the fire had been put out, Capt. Sabrina Puckett said.

The story may have turned out differently if it wasn’t for 10-year-old Noah Strickland, one of 10 people who live in the house, Puckett said. Strickland got up to get a drink of water around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Puckett said. He entered the kitchen to find the cabinets on fire, she said.

Strickland woke up the nine people and two dogs in the house, his family told Puckett. The boy’s grandfather grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out the flames in the kitchen, she said.

“Noah ultimately saved the lives of nine family members by alerting everyone in the home when he saw smoke and flames,” Puckett said.

The family told Henry County firefighters that the house is equipped with smoke alarms -- and that they went off -- but no one heard them.

“Noah Strickland acted with true bravery,” Puckett said

Larry Skopnik

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101108/bc_wheelchair_takedown_101108/20101108?hub=BritishColumbiaHome


By: Jon Woodward, ctvbc.ca
Date: Monday Nov. 8, 2010 6:34 PM PT
A man in a wheelchair is being hailed as a hero after he wrestled a would-be thief to the ground for threatening a Vancouver convenience store clerk.

Larry Skopnik says he was just doing the right thing when he saw the man charge behind the counter of the Food Stop on Commercial Drive.

"Just because I'm in a chair doesn't mean I can't stand up and do what's right," Skopnik told CTV News.

Skopnik has been in a wheelchair since an ATV accident 10 years ago in Chetwynd. He was shopping in the Food Stop on Saturday night when a man tried to pass off a suspicious $50 bill.

The clerk, Cindy Grewal, said the man became enraged when she wouldn't take the money.

"He started using filthy language," said Grewal. "He comes behind the counter and came at me and everything."

Surveillance video shows the man grabbing at some of the counter items and coming at the clerk before she pushes him back.

Skopnik rolled towards the counter and put the would-be thief in a headlock. The pair wrestled for a few seconds, and then Skopnik held the man by the torso until both of them fell to the ground.

"I'm pretty sure I can defend myself," said Skopnik. "Her not getting hurt was the important thing."

Other store patrons held the man until the police arrived several minutes later.

"I didn't know exactly what was going down, but I knew it wasn't right," said one of the patrons, Nick Dubeau.

Police officers arrived after a few minutes and arrested the man.

"Larry's a hero, honest to God," said Grewal. "I think (the thief) learned the lesson the hard way," said Grewal. "He won't come back. He saw the stars. It's a lesson that no good citizens will tolerate that."

Last year a shopkeeper in Toronto was charged with assault and forcible confinement for catching a thief and holding him until police arrived. The charges were later dropped.

Vancouver police say they are not looking at pressing any charges in this case