In the news game, all’s not necessarily well just because it ends well.
There was a desperate search for a missing child earlier this week at Prince Edward Collegiate Institute in Picton.
A nine-year-old went missing on Monday at the K-Grade 12 school around 11 am. The OPP responded and began an extensive search effort about 30 minutes later with all hands on deck including the Emergency Response Unit and the Canine Unit.
Thankfully, with the support of the community and additional resources from Prince Edward OPP, the child was located safely approximately one hour after they went missing.
While I was very grateful to hear that the child was found safely, as a parent my first thoughts are of that child’s parents, who had to go through every parent’s worst nightmare.
I don’t want to think of how many ways a nine-year-old child could be hurt while lost, alone and scared. A minute is too long, let alone an hour, which would seem like an eternity.
While I would like to echo the OPP’s thanks to everyone who assisted in the search effort, I would implore everyone at the school and the board to take more time to look into how it happened in the first place.
As parents, our most important trust is the one we place in those who look after our children. This story has a happy ending, but the details involved can’t be erased or explained with a simple press release or a post on social media.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
