Why send a student to detention when you can just have him arrested?

I couldn't believe it when I read the media release from the police this afternoon. A 12-year-old boy was arrested at Ross Tilley Public School in Bowmanville on a charge of threatening.

His crime? He was upset that he had to get a hepatitis B shot and he said some things in the heat of the moment because he was a kid.

No one was hurt and no weapons were found at the school, Durham police said. A school board spokeswoman said the boy threatened to cause damage to the school building.

"We just wanted to send a strong message to everyone out there ... that this will not be tolerated in schools," Durham police spokesman Dave Selby said. "We want to let people know that under the Criminal Code, if there is behaviour that warrants it, we will be laying a charge."

You cannot blame the police for intervening. When they're called to a situation, whether it's at a bar, a home or at a school, they have the responsibility to respond. That's their job.

But really, who was the Einstein who made the call to the police in the first place? There were clearly other options that could have been put in play to calm this student. How about just not giving him the needle, contacting his parents and telling them he'd have to get the shot from his family physician or face suspension? Wouldn't that have been easier than calling the parents and explaining that their son had been arrested at school because he freaked out about getting a needle? Many kids freak out when they have to get needles including my own. I'm not fond of getting them either and I'm far from being a kid.

Not only was the student arrested but he was also held for a bail hearing. All over a needle.

This was no situation to call the police in to settle. They have far bigger issues to deal with than upset students. Talk about an over reaction by the teachers and principal involved. They just taught this kid a lesson he didn't need to learn and humiliated him in the process.

Sobering start to R.I.D.E. campaign

Journalists are supposed to cover stories objectively no matter what the circumstances and I can honestly say I've done that throughout my career.

But two years ago the police asked me to 'become' the story rather than 'cover' it by hoisting a few frosty pints at Durham College's student pub, EP Taylors. The objective was to show me, and a few other  assembled journalists, how alcohol impairs our driving ability. We drank, jumped into a driving simulator, and then swerved all over the place. The startling thing about the experience wasn't that I was swerving in the driving simulator but that I hadn't blown over the legal blood alcohol level of .08 (The level is now .05). It took five pints over the span of an hour and a half before I blew a warning. Scary. (For the record, everyone is different so five beers for me could mean eight beers for someone else or two beers for another guy before they blow over the legal limit.)

Fast forward to today and what's even scarier than me driving recklessly in a simulator inside a pub was the number of drivers driving recklessly on the real roads of Durham Region last week. In the first week of the Festive R.I.D.E. program a record number of charges were laid.


This isn't a situation you want to find yourself in so
if you're drinking, don't drive.



Twenty-one people were charged with drinking and driving offences up from 13 the year before. As well, 22 motorists received three-day suspensions for registering a WARN, up from 17 the previous year.

Police Chief Mike Ewles expressed concern by the results from Week No. 1.



"This is shocking and simply not acceptable," he said. "I am calling on all citizens, friends, neighbours, parents, students, bar owners, party organizers - everyone, to step up and do their part to stop this incredibly dangerous trend."



I know from my 'simulated' experience two years ago that two beers was enough to impair my driving. It's simply not worth taking the chance.

When you work in the media long enough things tend to repeat themselves. We're called upon to cover annual events such as Terry Fox runs, Heart and Stroke fundraisers, parades, etc. and we do them without complaint (OK, well maybe not without complaint). One story that tends to repeat itself far too often is drunk driving accidents. And if we get tired of reporting on these issues I can only imagine how tired the police get having to deal with the fallout from the families affected by these tragedies.

Dave Selby. the communications co-ordinator with Durham Regional Police Services, told me that far too many residents believe gangs  are something they need to be concerned with when it comes to neighbourhood crime. Wrong. The biggest risk to everyone is drunk driving. That's a sobering thought.

A nose for trouble

His name is Ozzie, our family's beagle. He's a cute, 6-year-old dog who my kids conned me into adopting two years ago. I was a reluctant participant at first but the dog's adorable, dumb, puppy dog look soon won me over.

Ozzie

If it wasn't for that look Ozzie wouldn't have lasted the two years we've had him. While he's shown the family much affection and endeared himself to my kids he's also gotten himself into some mischief. Take, for example, the time he clawed his way through a basement door, chewed some of our kid's toys to pieces, eaten a vacuum cleaner nozzle, and destroyed a couch cushion. Woof, woof.



Our last dog could be trusted but Webster was a corgi, not a beagle. While corgis are herding breeds, beagles are hunting dogs, governed by their noses. They are part of the hound family and can sniff out anything, anywhere, anytime.

 It's this nose that landed our faithful companion in trouble last weekend. He got into some mystery garbage and that garbage didn't sit well with Ozzie until about 5 in the morning when it shot out of him and all over my son's bedroom. Quite the visual, I know but it's better than the smell, trust me! His timing was perfect too as my 8-year-old son Tavish was having a sleepover with his buddy Anthony. The look on their faces as they raced out of Tavish's bedroom was priceless. I would have laughed if I had known there was someone else who would have cleaned up the mess. Unfortunately I'm the only one in my family who can clean up these types of spills without creating more spills, if you know what I mean.

Two days later the dog did it again. Thankfully he's on the mend now. No more accidents . . . please.

What's the moral of my story? Life's not perfect, sometimes it gets messy but you've got to take the good with the bad. I can't fault the dog for being a dog. If I'd wanted a cat I could have got one but they come with their own set of issues as well.

Besides, who could stay upset with that face? He is a cutie, don't you think?

Leafs have made me a bigger fan of hockey

There was a time when I was a die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan. I lived for the blue and white and my actual mood would be affected depending on whether the team won or lost the night before.

Not anymore.

This change didn't come about recently, it's been years in the making, I'd say since the early 1990s when Doug Gilmour led the team far in the playoffs. Since that memorable playoff run the team has been unable to achieve any level of success.

Year after year Leafs fans have been disappointed. The team hasn't made the playoffs since the 2003-04 season when they beat the Ottawa Senators in seven games to advance to the conference semi-finals. Philly put them out of their misery in the next round.

Since that short-lived playoff appearance the team has failed to earn a spot in the playoffs. Actually the team has failed to even compete. That hasn't stopped ticket prices from increasing every season though.

While all this mediocrity has been taking place in Toronto I've found myself watching other teams. That's not to say I've picked a new favourite team because I haven't. I've just learned to appreciate the game of hockey by watching better hockey teams. I no longer have to wait for the Boston Bruins to play the Leafs in this age of cable and satellite television. It's possible to watch the Boston - Montreal game or the Pittsburgh - Washington game whenever and wherever they play. There's a lot of talent in the NHL, you just have to surf a few channels in order to find it.

The Leafs are currently mired in another slump losing their last eight of nine games. The team's sniper Phil Kessel can't score and General Manager Brian Burke is ranting on about fans booing the team's on-ice performance. This hasn't changed my mood in the least as I don't care. The Leafs teams of my father's era were supposed to win, the Leafs teams of my era are supposed to lose.

The Leafs' fortunes may turnaround in the future but before they do I'm going to continue enjoying the game by watching other competitive teams play. Toronto isn't the centre of the hockey universe like many believe. There's a lot of hockey out there and I'm going to enjoy watching  as many games as I can.

It's all about respect

If you’re like me your life is busy. We all have things to do, places to go and people to see. There’s never a dull moment.

While we’re living our lives we tend to be scattered and all over the place. If you had the power to float above it all and look down I’m sure you’d be surprised by the complete chaos that is us, humanity.

It usually takes something BIG to get us all to slow down. I see it most often when a soldier is killed in Afghanistan. When that happens many of us pause to reflect.

Hwy. 401 has been renamed the Highway of Heroes because of the overwhelming support Canadians like you and me have shown our soldiers making their final journeys home. Hundreds of people line the bridges throughout Durham Region for repatriation ceremonies to show their support for our fallen soldiers.  It’s a heartwarming sight to see and even more powerful for those who make their way out to these ceremonies.

These unscripted, spontaneous acts of compassion are really about respect. Regular folks from coast to coast respect the men and women who sacrifice their lives in the name of country, our Canada.

That's why it's disturbing to see so many stories in the media these days about veterans getting the bureaucratic runaround by our own federal government.  When Colonel Pat Stogram, the former Veterans Affairs Ombudsman, was unceremoniously dumped from his post last summer because of the fuss he raised over the treatment of veterans, it made me sick.

Col. Stogram knows of what he speaks and he doesn't like to see veterans being mistreated by our government. If our veterans were being treated fairly there wouldn't be a class-action lawsuit launched by veteran Dennis Manuge of Nova Scotia, charging the government with unlawfully denying the injured their due and acting in bad faith with clawbacks of benefits. The lawsuit involves 6,500 veterans. Another suit has been launched by veteran-activist Sean Bruyea of Nepean. You may recall him as he was the poor guy who learned that his personal medical files had been made widely available to government officials.

Late last month Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Canada’s minister of veterans affairs, issued a public apology to Bruyea.

Canadian soldiers sacrifice everything for us which is one reason why so many residents flock to the repatriation ceremonies when a soldier is cut down in battle. It's about respect, love of country and love of our fellow men and women.

We supply our soldiers with equipment and training for battle. Once they're home we have a duty to supply them with the medical care, compassion and resources to adjust again to civilian life.

Remembrance Day gives us pause to remember all those who sacrificed their lives for this great country. Lest we forget the veterans who are still here.