The aunt of murdered Langford teen Kimberly Proctor is seeking to launch a provincewide safety awareness program for students.

Jo-Anne Landolt, 42, started seeking school safety programs in the aftermath of ProctorB次元官网网址檚 death on March 18, 2010, by two male classmates who are serving life in prison.

Landolt wants to give students the chance her niece never had through the Kids in the Know, a program developed by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. To fund the program for school districts across the province, sheB次元官网网址檚 in the running for a $150,000 Aviva Community Fund grant.

It wonB次元官网网址檛 be easy. LandoltB次元官网网址檚 idea is competing against several hundred entries pitched from across Canada and will go through several rounds of online voting. Winners will be selected in January 2012.

If she wins, the grant wouldnB次元官网网址檛 cover the costs to bring the program to all 60 school districts, but sheB次元官网网址檚 planning to target areas with the highest crime rates first. Kids in the Know offers detailed lesson plans on safety and awareness at home, on the street and on the Internet, with learning collateral geared from kindergarten to Grade 8.

B次元官网网址淚t talks about listening to your intuition, about healthy and unhealthy relationships,B次元官网网址� Landolt said. B次元官网网址淎fter what happened, I thought this needed to be taught in schools.

B次元官网网址淭here were different safety issues with what happened to (Kimberly),B次元官网网址� she continued. B次元官网网址淭here was Internet safety, there was luring that happened. They said she was an easy target. (Her texting) showed she had doubts about meeting them.B次元官网网址�

If Landolt is granted funding, there will still be a lot of work to implement Kids in the Know throughout the province. Some may need convincing. Many schools have Internet safety in their curriculum, but she doubts most have a comprehensive program.

B次元官网网址淓very school should have something like this. Internet safety may be in the curriculum, but what about other aspects of safety?B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淗ealthy and unhealthy relationships may spill over into the Internet. Luring spills over into the Internet too.B次元官网网址�

Landolt said teachers have helped test the program at her home district of Maple Ridge to positive acclaim. B次元官网网址淭eachers said it was straight forward, that there wasnB次元官网网址檛 extra training needed. And there are lessons kids can take home, so parents can get more involved, hopefully.B次元官网网址�

Landolt is also lobbying the Ministry of Education and the premierB次元官网网址檚 office to fund and distribute the Kids in the Know program across the province.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 up to individual teachers, but if school boards support it and approve it, that may encourage teachers to use it,B次元官网网址� she said.

To see and to vote on LandoltB次元官网网址檚 proposal, see www.avivacommunityfund.org and search for idea number B次元官网网址�11490B次元官网网址� or search for B次元官网网址淪chool Safety Program For KidsB次元官网网址�.

For more on Kids in the Know, see www.kidsintheknow.ca.

editor@goldstreamgazette.com