FAMILIES ILL-SERVED

Editor, The Star:

The Family Relations Act states that all parents have an obligation
to support a child by providing the necessities of life; food,
shelter, clothing and medical service. It states that both parents
are equally responsible to make these provisions for each child.

The main B.C. law protecting children under 19-years-old is the
Child, Family and Community Service Act (CFCSA). This law says that
parents or anyone responsible for taking care of a child must make
sure that the child is safe, has enough food to eat each day, has
clothing shelter, and health care; is not abandoned or neglected; is
protected from physical abuse and emotional harm; and is not sexually
abused or exploited.

The Federal Privacy Act ensures that parents cannot obtain any legal
or medical information about their own child, without their child's
consent. Therefore, if your child is hiding his or her drug
use/abuse, and you need information in order to intervene to possibly
save your child's life, you cannot legally obtain any information
about your own children without their consent, as early as
12-years-old, and possibly before that. There is no age limit on the
Federal Privacy Act, and it is in effect for every citizen.

The age of consent is 14 years. This means that a 14-year-old child,
while the parents remain responsible for him/her until the age of 19,
is legally entitled to make their own decisions even if that decision
is to become addicted to illegal substances and eventually criminal
activity to support their habit, serious illness, even death. Parents
are told by drug and alcohol counsellors that it is none of their
business if their child is attending meetings or not. School
counsellors will not disclose drug use or abuse to a student's parent
without the student's consent.

If you are tuned in and fortunate enough to actually know that your
child is addicted, and decide to help them, you as their parent have
no legal say in any interventions, rehabilitation, or medical
attention. If you wait (as you must under B.C. law), until your child
becomes entrenched in the legal system, the court can order
rehabilitation, but by that time, your child is more addicted to more
drugs, and still possibly an unwilling participant. There are laws
protecting our children from kidnapping and unlawful confinement, and
these laws apply to parents as well.

If you have experienced the laws limiting your ability to be a
responsible parent and ensure the necessary care is provided to your
child, whether it be in the educational system, the legal system, or
the medical system, please tell me about your personal struggles for
presentation to our local, provincial and federal government
officials. Send your concerns to: icanseeclearlynow@hotmail.com. They
will be presented, or held in confidence, whichever you note in your email.

Together, we can solve this problem for families across the country.
The more voices we hear, the louder our message will be. I will be
meeting with our government leaders soon.

G. Illsey

Fort Langley