Vernon's Maven Lane child centre confirms a group of children were pricked by needles after discovering a "stash of narcotic paraphernalia" hidden in playground equipment.
The centre says "a small group of children discovered a stash of narcotic paraphernalia that had been hidden in their playground. The hiding place was good; someone had gone to great lengths to ensure that the hole was discreet, and that the contents was tucked away out of sight… making the hole look quite innocent.
"So, despite our best efforts, we did not discover the hole and its contents during our safety inspections. Unfortunately, in this instance, the children decided to investigate themselves rather than tell an adult. This led to children being inadvertently poked by needles."
Maven Lane says the discovery on Friday has been "traumatizing for parents and staff alike."
Enrolment coordinator Nikki Bond expressed "frustration and regret" in an email to parents.
"Safety of our facilities is always a top priority, and we go to great lengths to ensure our facilities are the safest environment we can offer. We are acutely aware that our location is in a low socio-economic neighbourhood, close to an outreach facility, and on a thoroughfare to the city centre. We have come to expect unwelcome visitors and we have practices in place to manage their effect."
The centre says all outdoor play areas and facility grounds are inspected each morning.
"We check every playground, parking lot, and door-well. Most days there is something to tidy up. We have cleaned up needles, feces, home made weapons, backpack contents, shopping cart contents, garbage, drugs, clothing; you name it, we've cleaned it up. If overnight guests are still here when we arrive in the morning, we politely ask them to move on, as the children will soon be arriving. Often this polite request is sufficient, but we have faced great aggression; anything from abusive language to full-scale arson as an act of revenge."
Maven has employed staff to clean up every morning and contracts a security company to conduct physical surveillance of the grounds seven days a week. Surveillance cameras and night lighting have also been installed.
"We have a great relationship with the surrounding neighbours, who regularly report any observations they make that seem suspicious. All these actions are a discouragement, but we cannot ensure prevention," says Bond.
Safety checks are also made whenever groups use an empty play space.
"All these procedures were completed last Friday," Bond continues.
"We cannot express our regret enough, and we remain hopeful that there are no long-term repercussions to this incident...
"Even if we had prevented this incident, we cannot guarantee there won’t be more 'holes' in the future. What we can do is better educate the children. We are currently expanding our safety check policy to actively involve the children in daily checks as well as involving them in the reporting’ of findings, giving them more agency in the process and a feeling of empowerment when it comes to ensuring safety."
Night-time lighting is also being expanded.
"Our children should not be paying the price for the community’s safety issues. We don’t expect to live in a city that never has any danger, but the frequency and level of danger that we face every day is not acceptable. We will be continuing our relationship with the neighbours to help keep us in the know of out-of-hours activities. We will be contacting the City of Vernon, the local shelter, and the police. Our hope is that the volume of (vulnerable) individuals that our little block serves daily will prompt more support in keeping us safe.
Test results on the children are being awaited.
