Children's Health and Safety

Children are our future, and it is our responsibility to keep them safe and healthy.

Steve Kanstoroom has been donating his time, services and money to benefit children and their families for more than twenty-five years. Click here to learn of some of Steve’s work for children and their families.

As a Councilmember, Steve will continue his advocacy for children and their families, to create an environment where they feel safe, valued, healthy and heard.

Issues Steve will advocate for include:

Providing safe and modern recreation centers. Some children talk of their desire to play basketball, yet there are no nets on the backstops. Other children talk of their desire to use computers after school, yet the PCs are obsolete. Steve has successfully structured public/private partnerships in the past, and he will do so on the Council to make certain our children have what they need.

Protecting the Police Activities League.

Recent budget cuts are threatening the wildly successful PAL program – the program that helps our youth with safe after school activities which also teaches them to respect our police and County laws. Steve will highlight the value of this program and the true long-term costs to the County that any short-term cuts will bring. This program can be the difference between success and failure on the part of our children and in some cases their families. Steve will fight tirelessly to keep the PAL programs working.

Click here to learn more about the value of this program.

Implementing more healthy lunch choices at school.

Childhood obesity is at an all time high, and parents across the District are asking why it is that our schools cannot have more healthy school lunches, including salad bars as have been successfully introduced in other jurisdictions.

Restoring physical education.

Numerous studies highlight the advantages of exercise and its positive effect upon learning. Parents across District 4 are demanding that physical education be made a part of their children’s education as it was when they were in school. Steve will push to restore physical education to the curriculum.

Influencing safety initiatives for caregivers.

For example, those persons working in child care programs, after school and youth programs, and camps. Such initiatives could include information on:

Elliminating Bullying.

Providing a mechanism for delivering information on the signs and remedies for bullying as well as requiring consequences for students who engage in such tactics and their parents.

Reducing Childhood Stress.

According to the Children's Safety Network, "More than 1 of 7 children between the ages of 2 and 17 years have experienced maltreatment." A study conducted by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente demonstrates a strong link between child maltreatment and risky behaviors and health problems in adulthood. The report provides prevention practitioners with ideas about how to incorporate this important information into their work.

Sexual Abuse Prevention.

The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that, "If your child does reveal sexual abuse to you, the most important point is to take what your child says seriously. Many children who report sexual abuse are not believed. When a child's plea for help is ignored, he may not risk telling again. As a result, the child could remain a victim of abuse for months or years."

Steve would like to know your thoughts on these issues. Click here to share them with him.

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