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.