Child Safety!

Ever hear the saying "You can tell a lot about a man by looking into his garage."?  I firmly believe that to be true!  When you look into my garage, you will see lots of stuff: welder, tablesaw, reloading equipment, weight bench, snowshoes, and lots of ongoing projects.  What would that tell you about me?  That I stay busy?  That I am "handy" with tools?  That I work out?  How about all the above but probably not to the extent needed to master any!  My point is, that simply by looking you can perceive a lot about me, right?

Why would you not look into your child's "garage" and see what you can perceive about him or her?  You think that would violate their 4th Amendment rights or something?  He or she is YOUR CHILD, that have no rights to privacy that you don't give them!  Would you rather make them mad for a few hours or have them die in one fashion or another because of their "right to privacy" that you gave them.  You are a parent, not their best friend.  YOU are responsible for their safety!  

A friend of mine that happens to be a principle posted this and I re-post it here with her permission:

"I know you are given lots of advice over the years so I would like to add my little food for thought your way! Please check your child's backpack often, remove any clothing, broken pencils, chewed gum, spitwad shooters, the erasers that have been broken to put in said spitwad shooter, any dead creatures (just kidding on that one), open any wadded paper because it is more than likely something they didn't want you to see and while in the process, if your child runs frantically to remove something from his/her notebook - MAKE SURE you immediately ask for what that was.... We had operation backpack clean out last night and I am embarrassed, still in shock and mortified of what all I removed from that "little sack". My next advice - NO MORE BACKPACK!! If it can't fit in the notebook and you can't carry it then perhaps it is not a necessary part of your education!! Before you say it - YES I am an educator, even a school principal and we all need to be humbly reminded!"

I have no idea what she found in her child's backpack.  One, it's none of my business and I won't ask.  Two, it's irrelevant.  I applaud her for taking the time to look!

Recently a child died, alone at home after school because she wanted to get high.  She had heard about huffing the coolant gas from her house's A/C unit.  She went and filled a trash bag with R-22 refrigerant and went to her bedroom.  She took a big breath of it and then, holding it.... she passed out.... then died.

(Background info: R-22 is the refrigerant gas Freon used in home A/C units.  Kids are following a trend of "huffing" this gas because of the perception of getting high.  This is a false high as R-22 will not get one high.  What it causes is the displacement of the oxygen in the lungs and the perceived high is caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain.  The coolant is much heavier than air and will stay in the lungs much longer than other inhalants used by kids to get high.  This also happens with helium, however helium is much lighter than air and will rapidly evacuate itself from the lungs.)

Afterwards, as the investigator was looking through her stuff looking for indications as to what had transpired, he found her pack.  Looking inside he discovered several notes talking about "bagging" and how it is accomplished.  There was even a picture on her phone from another kid showing her where to get the gas from the A/C unit.  By all accounts this was her first time trying it, but she had been discussing it via notes and texts for several weeks or months.  When asked, her mother said that she had never seen them and would never violate her daughter's privacy... Well, congratulations.  You now have a dead daughter.  The rest of her existence on earth will be very private from now on.

Be a responsible parent.  Do not try to be your child's best buddy. Check your child's backpack, telephone, computer, and if allowed by the school, check his or her locker!  Be involved in your kid's LIFE and they will have one!  You can be his or her best friend when they are grown, but while growing up, please, be a parent.

Inhalants are abused by 1 in 5 kids before completing high school.  35% of inhalant deaths were caused by Freon.    25% of those deaths were first time users.  88% of American homes have A/C with Freon.

Also: If you have a child coming into "That stage" in life... or if you have some in your neighborhood...
R-22 Refrigerant Cap Locks