Pubdate: Sat, 07 Jul 2001
Source: Cambridge Reporter, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2001 The Cambridge Reporter
Contact:  http://www.cambridge-reporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1470

DEATH OF A TEEN: PROTECTIVE LAWS NEEDED

Damned if you do, damned if you don't, is an expression tailor-made to 
describe the dilemma some parents face with wayward children.

Although the Harris Tories have talked about implementing a law making 
parents liable for the illegal actions of their children, the fact is some 
parents have little or no control over their children.

The situation involving 13-year-old Amanda Raymond appears to fall into 
that category.

Raymond is the Kitchener teen who apparently overdosed on illicit 
prescription barbiturates during an all-night party at a residence on Somme 
Island in Lake Puslinch.

The youngster had been experimenting with drugs but instead of dealing with 
her problems, had quit school and left home, according to Raymond's aunt 
Valerie Kyriacou.

Amanda didn't like the house rules and just walked out.

Her family turned to Family and Children's Services, Waterloo Regional 
Police and the Waterloo Regional District School Board for help that none 
could supply.

Agencies like police and Family and Children's Services have no teeth to 
deal with truancy unless it can be demonstrated that the child's life is in 
danger. The child has to be caught in an abusive situation or nabbed at a 
party taking drugs before agencies are empowered to take them home or into 
custody.

A number of parents have called The Reporter over the years to express 
their frustration over similar scenarios. Their children are free as birds, 
running with the wrong crowd, living off the street, and officials seem 
powerless to change anything, they have complained.

The parent who attempts to forcibly confine such a child to the home runs 
the risk of facing serious criminal charges.

Peter Ringrose, executive director of Family and Children's Services for 
the region, commiserates with the parents and agrees legislation to curb 
such self-destructive behaviour is needed. More funding of counselling 
services is also needed, he said.

An inquest into Amanda's circumstances could prove useful in outlining all 
the places where the system deserted this family. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom