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Crime does not define a community
by Michelle Minnoch

On Monday night I sat down to watch A Channel news and the first news story was about the attempted abduction of a Nantyr Shores student. The student avoided the abduction, and fled to her school where police were contacted.

A few weeks ago, the South Simcoe Police released a composite sketch of a man who was wanted in an attempted abduction in Cookstown.

The crime we hear about happening in and around the GTA, and the crime people talk about 'never happening around here' has now reached the four corners of Innisfil.

Our community is growing, and with growth comes highs and lows. The highs can be the rallying of a community around a certain individual, a sports team, the collective voice of people who want to change things for the better.

The lows come in forms of increased crime, a failing system, people going un-noticed.

Our community, like many others, is on a swinging pendulum of highs and lows - you can't have one without the other; you can't have good without the bad; ying without the yang.

Our community may be facing many obstacles as the growth continues. Obstacles are not always bad - obstacles challenge us to face fears and what you do with that fear is often seen in the result.

With two attempted abductions within the past two months, parents will need to step up to the plate and open the lines of communication with their children. Have you explained to them what to do if they are being followed? Do they know what harassment is and how would they handle it?

These are key questions in an ever changing world, one that has changed and done an about face in the past 50 years.

Gone are the days when bikes are ridden without helmets, children playing until the street lights come on, kids taking off on their bikes for an adventure, except the adventure now has a timeline and may include a cell phone.

Innisfil is a great community, and unfortunately, we are not immune to the problems of bigger cities.

We just have to find a way to rise above the problem.