TODAY! Gilbert Park Going Places 1st Pow Wow

Gilbert Park Going Places 1st Pow Wow is a FREE event!
Pipe Ceremony @ 11am
Registration @ 11am
Grand Entry @ 12pm
Feast @ 6pm
2nd Grand Entry @ 7pm

CHECK OUT THE FACEBOOK PAGE HERE: https://www.facebook.com/gpgppowwow

CHECK OUT THE OFFICIAL POSTER BELOW:

August 2nd – Politix Brain Storm Mayor Report Card

+++ALL YOUNG WINNIPEGGERS 30ISH AND UNDER ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE BRAIN STORM!++++

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Mayoral BS events! Join us once more this Saturday to do a review of each of the 5 candidates, and prepare some feedback, or a MAYOR REPORT CARD to share with them on how they did as well as our own comments/feedback. CLICK HERE TO BE TRANSPORTED TO THE FACEBOOK PAGE – and please help spread the word. Any young person who attended a brain storm or listened to the SPEED ROUNDS is invited to come back and have their say on these candidates.

Stay tuned to the MAYOR BS Page for further details on the GET REAL Candidates Forum!
http://politixbs.wordpress.com/wpg14/2014-mayor-bs/

We also have an important issue to discuss together. Beginning August 9th, we will be Brain Storming with individuals vying for City Council as our MYNARSKI representative. Let’s make our strategy, discuss our SPEED ROUND TOPICS and determine how we will ENGAGE MORE YOUTH!

STAY TUNED TO THE MYNARSKI BS PAGE FOR DETAILS:
http://politixbs.wordpress.com/wpg14/2014-mynarski-bs/

#PolitixBS

Stranger Danger For COMMUNITY [Part 4 of 4]

Meet Me at the Bell Tower recently gathered to speak  on the issue of keeping our children safe. We know children and parents have an important role in watching their kids, and themselves – but for community members what can we do to encourage neighbourhood kids to be safe? Find below the recommendations we have put together for community members to help.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

• BLOCK PARENTS – there are programs such as this one that parents and households go through to be identified as a safe place to go if a kid needs help. The proven safety of these programs was also discussed.
• Neighbourhood Watch – We talked about what ‘eyes on the street’ could do to improve safety. If we organize our neighbours and watch out for each other safety, we can help keep the streets safer.
• Don’t Look the Other way/Follow through until the child is safe – Like we had to to at MM@BT a few weeks ago, we didn’t just let the children leave us when they said they were okay – we walked with them back to their guardians house, talked to their guardian and communicated what the dangers were. Always make sure you talk with a adult who is in the right mind to take care of that child too.
• Silence is Violence. You don’t always have to speak out loudly in the moment, but make sure you OBSERVE what is happening and share it when the time IS right.
• Learn Self Defense & share it – if we learn things such as non violent crisis intervention and other types of physcial self defense we can keep ourselves and streets safert. As with any type of defense, make sure you only use these skills when they are needed, and never create violence where it is not needed.
• Role Model being a safe adult – for adults, make sure you are a safe adult. Do not fight or be beligerent (swearing/aggressive) in public. Also do not give any toys candy or money to any kids you do not know, or do not have permission from the parents from.
• ASKING FOR HELP (ID/ask for/accept) – this is a 3 step process for all of us, so as community members understand an dacknowledge that those who ask us for help have to go through these 3 steps, as well as us as the person helping. Make sure you have empathy/compassion for those who take the courage to ask for help, and always be courteous and humble when offering your help.
• When helping, use the ‘Buddy System’ – As concerned community members, when we help we are putting ourselves into a situation where it is our word versus the word of the child. While its not nice to think of it as that confrontational, we are trying to role model safety – with that in mind bring another adult with you. This is helpful for physical safety as well as for additional eyeballs for observation as required and additional perspectives when communicating any necessary tips, details or dangers.
• Get to Know Your Neighbours – if you know who your neighbours are, you will be better situated to recognize when there is something amiss, or when help is needed. It also will help you learn to identify which adults belong to which family/house/adult and vice versa for communication reasons.
• Assess Situations on a Case By Case Basis – make sure you OBSERVE everything that is possible. Do not jump to conclusions and keep a safe distance if any adults become hostile. You are not useful to a situation if you yourself are injured or compromised of your ability to help. Use the buddy system and your own logic to keep yourself safe as a helper.
• Buy A Dog – self explanatory.

We would like to say thank you to everyone who continues to support Meet Me at the Bell Tower, AYO! and all of the youth led initiatives in our communities. It is by breaking silence, being observant, demonstrating integrity and role modelling being a helper that we are going to turn around the negative realities we face – address them head on-  and ensure that we are always doing what we can to keep our streets, communities and especially our children safe.

AYO!

STRANGER DANGER COMPLETE SERIES

1. ROUGH NOTES
2. Stranger Danger for KIDS
3. Stranger Danger for PARENTS
4. Stranger Danger for COMMUNITY (this post)

Stranger Danger for PARENTS [Part 3 of 4]

Last week, we met at MM@BT and discussed ways we as kids, parents and community members could keep children in the community safe. Check out the below list of ideas we have for PARENTS so they can keep their children protected from stranger danger:

STRATEGIES

• Education from day one (age appropriate) for your kids:
• Create a ‘safety password’
• teach children about “safe touch” – what is and is not an OK touch
• know where your children are always
• teach our kids to communicate, describe and observe surroundings/people
• Ensure your children know their own address and phone # and parents’ names
• teach our kids to trust themselves
• trust your instincts as a parent when deciding who is and isn’t safe for your child.

HELPFUL LINKS FROM A COMMUNITY MAMA

Thanks to the Bannock Lady for sharing these helpful links with us – as parents we recommend you sit down and check these links out with your relatives and your own children so you can begin the discussion on how to best keep your child safe.

Younger Kids

• VIDEO ABOUT CONSENT http://www.upworthy.com/here-are-4-ways-were-accidentally-teaching-kids-that-consent-doesnt-matter
• 10 TIPS FOR TEACHING ASSERTIVENESS SKILLS  http://practicalkatie.com/2012/01/13/10-tips-for-teaching-assertiveness-skills/
• 10 THINGS TO TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT STRANGERS  https://www.life360.com/blog/10-things-to-teach-your-kids-about-strangers

Older Kids/Tweens

• Communicating Assertively – a lesson plan  http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/1190-lessons
• HOW TO TEACH GIRLS TO BE ASSERTIVE  http://www.howdini.com/video/6640589/how-to-teach-girls-to-be-assertive
• TEEN BOUNDARIES  http://www.kidpower.org/library/article/teen-boundaries/

STRANGER DANGER SERIES

1. ROUGH NOTES
2. Stranger Danger for KIDS
3. Stranger Danger for PARENTS (this Post)
4. Stranger Danger for COMMUNITY

IDEA: Winnipeg Bar & Drug Association

Our Politix Group has been meeting each Saturday for what we are calling BRAIN STORMS and have been asking candidates running for mayor if they support the establishment of a Winnipeg Bar and Drug Watch to help stop street violence and keep our main streets safer. What do you think of this idea?

IDEA: Winnipeg Bar & Drug Association.

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/wpgbdw 

 

Stranger Danger for KIDS [Part 2 of 4]

We originally asked the kids under 10 at the Bell Tower to work together and draw pictures of how they could be safe from ‘STRANGER DANGER’ and this was the result:

Naturally, we wanted to create real solutions and recommendations for our KIDS so find below the SAFETY TIPS from Bell Tower

•  Don’t take candy/$$$/toys from strangers: If someone comes up to you offering money, or anything, do not accept it unless you have permission from your parents.
• Call 911: find a pay phone, or use a cell phone, or ask someone to cal 911. OBSERVE the description of the people involved and learn how to recognize different vehicles and
• Learn Karate/Self Defense: learn how to defend yourself physically. Do not engage in unnecessary fights/yelling with people, especially strangers
• Run Away: just do it.
• Yelling (Fire! Fire! Fire!): we practiced YELLING really loudly and also said that if we yelled FIRE FIRE FIRE we are more likely to get attention from people, and that way we can show that we need help.
• Tell your parents/relatives: tell your family as soon as you can when something happens, so they can tell other parents and neighbours and the authorities. You should always be honest, and again OBSERVE as best you can, write it down if possible
• Run to A store: businesses have cameras and phones. Again, communicate as clearly as possible.
• Play where your parents can see you: please.
• Make  Safety Plan w/your family: talk with your siblings, parents and whoever you live with to make sure you know your address, phone number and names of guardians. Also talk about what to do if strangers approach you, and what would happen if your guardians needed someone else to contact you  (see tips for parents – link coming soon)
• Check out FouseyTube on YouTube (see below)

VIDEO – FlouseyTube “KIDNAPPING CHILDREN EXPERIMENT”
(recommended by Victoria)

+++CLICK HERE FOR THE HOMELESS CHILD EXPERIMENT+++

STRANGER DANGER SERIES

1. ROUGH NOTES
2. Stranger Danger for KIDS (this Post)
3. Stranger Danger for PARENTS 
4. Stranger Danger for COMMUNITY

Stranger Danger Bell Tower Notes [Part 1 of 4]

This image was created by one of our 10 year old Bell ringers as a gift for us every week – something we could hold out to traffic and passers by so that they would know why we gather each Friday on Selkirk Avenue to ring a bell – to stop violence.

STRANGER DANGER

We recently experienced some “stranger danger” at the bell tower (read about it here) and wanted to get together for kids and families in the neighbourhood to talk about safety. We shared 3 different types of Strategic Streams, based on who was in attendance at the gathering – parents, community members and children directly. We had the adults have a discussion and share resources in word, and we engaged the kids through art and conversation as well.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The images of the rough notes are included we will be releasing these recommendations in 4 PARTS:

1. ROUGH NOTES (this post)
2. Stranger Danger for KIDS
3. Stranger Danger for PARENTS 
4. Stranger Danger for COMMUNITY

Stay tuned for the upcoming posts, and thanks to everyone who continues to support the local initiatives in our community that bring us together, get us talking to our neighbours and connecting us to our humanity, spirits and the earth.  We are trying to rally as many supporters and resources as we can for this upcoming Bell Tower Friday July 25, 2014 SILENCE IS VIOLENCE. Please join us with your drums, medicines and voices, we’re gonna need the entire village for this one folks.

AYO!

MM@BT: SILENCE IS VIOLENCE – July 25th 2014

They say the violence is back. Our children are learning how to use their voices, let’s share our examples and raise our voices. Silence is violence – Meet Me @ the Bell Tower. 

Bring Your: Hand Drums, Medicines (Sage, sweetgrass, etc), Megaphones, Noise Makers, Pots & Pans!!

Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1440733176192290/

{OFFICIAL POSTER COMING SOON}

VIDEO: Aboriginal Gangs in Winnipeg (VICE)

The following is a VICE video released on July 10, 2014 describing the issue of Aboriginal street gangs in our city. We have one thing to say about that “stop the violence”.

Video Description from YouTube

Winnipeg is the capital of Manitoba, Canada — and for 16 of the past 33 years, it has also been the country’s murder capital. The prairie city is home to just under 800,000 people, about 10 percent of whom are Aboriginal, meaning Winnipeg boasts the largest urban Aboriginal population in Canada. Largely impoverished and facing continual discrimination, the community has given rise to violent Aboriginal street gangs. VICE News went to Winnipeg to spend time with gang members and find out why they’re linked to the majority of the city’s murders.

Read more on VICE News: Why Canada’s Inclusiveness Doesn’t Include Its Aboriginal Population: http://bit.ly/1y0evnu

————————————————————-

CHECK OUT THE ORIGINAL LINK HERE: https://news.vice.com/video/aboriginal-gangs-in-winnipeg
Thanks to Stefan Richard for sharing this with us!

OPPORTUNITY: New Canada Conference

ATTENTION All Youth Between 19-24! If you’re passionate about this country and connecting with other Canadians, then we want to hear from you.

This is a conference for dreamers and for doers — for people who are ready to stretch themselves, ROLL UP their sleeves and plunge ahead. We don’t care about your resume or your transcript. Instead we want to know how you think about your country — the things you believe need fixing, building, and understanding — and what you will bring to the conversation. To APPLY, you need to be between the ages of 19-24 as of September 1, 2014, and you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. There is no cost to participate. All travel and conference costs are paid by PEI 2014, with the generous support of the Government of Canada.
http://ncc-cnc.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/NCCCNC14

PEI 2014 is calling on 100 young Canadians to tell us the story of Canada’s tomorrow!
The New Canada Conference is a flagship event from PEI 2014 to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference. To celebrate, we’re calling on the next generation of Canadians to come together for three exciting days in Charlottetown to reimagine Canada’s future. Between August 31st and September 3rd, we’re bringing 100 19-24 year olds to hear from leading Canadians, share perspectives from across the county and work in eight teams — each with their own theme— to produce an Idea Book concerning the choices, forces, and ideas that will shape Canada in the next 150 years.

To be eligible, delegates must be between the ages of 19-24 and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident on September 1st, 2014. For successful applicants, all expenses will be covered. We will contact successful delegates no later than July 25th. 

This is a conference for doers and dreamers. We aren’t concerned with transcripts orresumes. We’re looking for creative thinkers who are passionate about Canada’s future. We want to know how delegates think about their country — the things they believe need fixing, building, and understanding— and what they will bring to the conversation. 
Applying to be a delegate to the New Canada Conference is easy. Just fill out the form, provide two references, and either record a 150 second video explaining “Your Story of Canada” or write us “Your Story of Canada” in 450 words or less. Just make it honest, memorable and something that will give us a sense of the things you care about.

Applications and additional information can be found at www.ncc-cnc.ca. The deadline to apply is July 15th.

(special thanks to DALE for sharing this with AYO!)