Welfare worker pinpoints suicide culprit

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Leory Soosay, a child welfare worker for the Samson Band and a cousin of suicide victim Pamela Soosay, has an interesting theory about how and why children are becoming lost souls. Their situation he says is precipitated due to the influence of a materialistic society in which bingo has become an obsession.

Soosay says, "I'd like to tell the world that we're having a big problem. I know it." He claims that the incidence of alcohol abuse has diminished but that other evils have taken its place.

"Sniffing is really bad here," charges Soosay who contends that plastic wood (also referred to as "peanut butter") and glues are two of the major ills.

As for alcohol explains Soosay, "you'd be surprised at the number of people that quit drinking. It's not as bad as in the city."

The fault says Soosay, partly lies with the families themselves, especially the parents. "They don't have that family tradition where they want to be together" because parents and grandparents are not around to give the youth the guidance and direction they require.

He stresses the significance of a large youth population which constitutes about 75% of the reserve people. Whent eh rate is that high, there needs to be more attention to that group he says.

The real culprit contends Soosay is bingo. "Now that people have quit drinking, they've got nothing to do but go to bingo. They're hooked. It's like a bad habit leading to another," he says.

While Soosay commends the community for curbing its drinking patterns, he is quick to admonish the bad habit of gambling. The parents get up, do their business, clean up the house in the morning and take off for the bingo halls of Wetaskiwin and Leduc in the afternoons complains Soosay.

With the arrival of evening, they are at it again by 6 p.m. in preparation for the 6:30 p.m. bingo. Their infant children are left at a daycare beside the bingo hall he says as he accuses people of being addicted. "These kids are up 'til 12 o'clock midnight," he adds.

"Parents think they've done a lot by quitting their booze but actually it's worse laments Soosay who seriously questions the effect of bingo playing. "At home, what's a 13-year-old girl or boy doing? Ever wonder about that?"

No wonder kids are encountering problems, he says. They are left unattended and have nothing to spend their time at other than recreational activities. "Now we're getting this high rate of teenage pregnancies," he chaffs.

What Soosay is striving to do is create an awareness among parents of the need for them to spend more time with the rest of their families. Many, he says, only see their children for about an hour a day because of bingo.

As president for the Hobbema Foster Parent Association, Soosay has set up suicide prevention workshops. The money for the workshops came from the Alberta Foster Parent Association.

"We need parents to pitch in (and help). I'm saying, 'don't bring the kids, bring the parents.'" The objective Soosay is shooting for is to educate foster parents and to have them trained so they can return home and work at creating a better home environment.

Soosay says he has lost a lot of respect for both parents and Elders whom he considers are neglecting the youth. They are not serving as good role models and do little to improve conditions he adds.

"I can't blame the children, I got to blame the adults," declares Soosay. He is emphatic about the high price paid by faultless children who have become wayward and encourages adults to participate in constructive problem-solving through the foster parent group and to surrender their bad bingo habits for the sake of the youth. After all, they are our parents and leaders of tomorrow.