Archive for May 3rd, 2014
Cyclist hit by truck in critical care unit
(CNS): A 50-year-old woman who was struck by a Ford F250 truck Saturday morning while riding her bike has sustained head injuries and is in the critical care unit at the George Town hospital in a serious condition. Police said that female cyclist was out riding with another male cyclist at 6:10 this morning on Homestead Crescent, off Shamrock Road in Savannah, when they were hit by the truck. The pair were travelling east on their bikes when the collision happened. Police and ambulance personnel responded to the scene and took the injured woman to the Cayman Islands Hospital by ambulance. The man had only minor injuries. Witnesses who saw the incident are asked to call Bodden Town Police Station at 947-2220.
Man hospitalized with stab wound to neck
(CNS): Police are appealing for witnesses to a stabbing at the Memory Lane Bar, West Bay, in the early hours of Saturday morning. At around 2:18 this morning (3 May) RCIPS officers responded to a report in the Birch Tree Hill area of the district and when they arrive they found a 24-year-old man with stab wounds to his neck. Although he told police he had sustained those injuries at the bar in Hell Road, the victim said he had then walked to Birch Tree Hill. He was taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town, where he is now listed in serious but stable condition. As the investigation continues, police are asking anyone with information to contact the West Bay Police Station at 949-3999 or Crime stoppers at 800 (TIPS) 8477.
FRC takes aim at teen pregnancy with new campaign
(CNS) Updated: The Family Resource Centre launched a campaign Friday as part of Child Month, targeting teen pregnancy and awareness prevention. According to officials, the message “I’m worth the wait” is focused on encouraging young people to wait to have sex. They want teenagers to think about the decisions they are making and the bigger picture because young people don’t always engage in the critical thinking necessary to make decisions that are life-altering. FRC Programme Coordinator Miriam Foster, said that while abstinence is the only 100% method to avoid pregnancy and STDs, the campaign would include wider sex education and contraception because anabstinence-only message in isolation is ineffective.
“This initiative aims to provide tools for schools and homes to build individuals that understand they are worth the wait,” FRC officials said in a release about the campaign.
The message behind the campaign is that teens are smart and capable of making great choices and to tell teens that they can exercise self-control over their bodies and that they are special and valuable for lots of reasons. As a part of the campaign, FRC will distribute a winning poster created by a 16-year-old that illustrates the consequences sex may have and how your life may be impacted.
FRC officials will make be making presentations following invitations from John Gray High School and Cayman International School to get students to think critically about their future.
“Students will also be encouraged to sign take commitment cards that acknowledges their self-worth and that the decisions they make surrounding sex can be life-changing and wear a glow-in-the-dark bracelet that says I am worth the wait. The posters and bracelets will also be distributed at Batabano parades in partnership with Department of Children and Family Services,” a spokesperson for the FRC said.
“The mission of this campaign is to promote values, behaviour and policies that reduce both teen pregnancy and unplanned pregnancy among young adults. By increasing the proportion of children born into welcoming, intact families who are prepared to take on the demanding task of raising the next generation; our efforts will improve the well-being of children and strengthen the nation,” she added.
Teen pregnancy is a major issue across the region and CARICOM has revealed its plans to tackle it because of its impact on development. While childbirth rates are falling in general across the region in line with economic and social development, the rate in teenage girls is escalating.
"We cannot talk about sustainable development without addressing, in a serious way, the needs of young people, who make up over 60 per cent of the population of Caricom. Teenage pregnancy is one of the major challenges standing in the way of girls' education and their ability to achieve their full potential, especially when the necessary support systems are not in place," said Director of the UNFPA Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean Sheila Roseau at a recent population meeting in the region.
Most experts in the field and the vast majority of research on the subject points to better sex education, including the use of contraception, as a much more successful way of reducing unwanted pregnancies among young people than abstinence alone.
While abstinence my be the only sure fire way of preventing teen pregnancies, time and time again research demonstrates that teenagers who receive some type of comprehensive sex education are around 60 percent less likely to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant than those exposed to abstinence only, which had been shown to have no impact at all on reducing rates.
Many experts also warn that asking teens just to say no can increase the rates and risk of pregnancy as it deters contraceptive use.