Sunday, February 14, 2010

What are the lives of our children worth?

Last night on the north side of Flint 4 children ages 1, 2, 3, and 4 died in a house fire. The babysitter fell asleep while cooking. The loss of such young lives is always tragic. What makes this loss even more tragic is that those little babies might be alive today if there had been working smoke detectors in the apartment.

You can buy smoke detectors at most retail stores for 10 dollars each. You can get batteries at the dollars store if you can't afford the few dollars it costs for 9 volt batteries at a regular store. It is nothing really. There are even places where you can get smoke detectors for free if you can't afford them. Call your local fire department.

It doesn't matter who you think should be responsible for making sure there were working smoke detectors in the apartment, the landlord, the tenant, the parents who left their children there. The fact is it's all our responsibilities. When was the last time you checked your smoke detector batteries? If you let your kid stay the night at someone else's house do you ask if the smoke detectors are working? Such a small amount of money can protect the ones who are priceless and depend on us to protect them.

Do your part. Check your smoke detectors. Ask the people you love if they've checked theirs. Do it for the helpless and innocent, do it for the careless person who falls asleep while cooking, do it for yourself.

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