Kid-friendly strategies sought; An overlooked age group is the target of Wednesday's meeting
Langley Advance
February 12, 2008 
By: Heather Colpitts

A get-together Wednesday is focusing on what the community can do to better meet the needs of children ages six to 12.

The Community Forum for Langley Kids is open to anyone with an interest in the topic….

The project is part of a United Way-funded initiative that seeks to put into practice recent UBC research on what children need after school and for leisure time.

The Langley Middle Childhood Matters Committee was struck to address issues for children in an overlooked age group. Karen Abrahamson, the committee coordinator, explained that there are services and programs to address children up to age six but not enough after that. Its aim is to use community input to answer a key question.

"What can we do as a community to make things better for this population of kids?" she explained.

Langley is one of the region's pilot programs and this would be for children in the City and Township. Work got started last November by the committee that includes representation by municipal and provincial governments, and local service agencies. In addition to meeting with parents and children, the committee has also surveyed child care providers, sports associations, churches and businesses catering to kids. The results show there are programs that build self-esteem but not enough of them that encourage appropriate time with adults.

"Kids don't just want to do things on their own," said Bart Begalka, the committee chair. "They want more quality time with their parents and family members. The challenge there is that there just doesn't seem to be enough time."….