C.E.O Says People Can Help Children Without Seeming to Be Predators  

Vidal Orellano, the father of little Gabriel Orellano who tragically drowned after escaping from Stella Maris School on Monday afternoon, has been receiving support to lay his son to rest. The community has shown immense kindness, reaching out to help after heartbreaking videos surfaced showing Gabriel running through several streets before slipping into the sea and drowning. While some have criticized those who saw the child running in heavy traffic and doing nothing, there’s also an understanding that people might hesitate to approach a fleeing child for fear of being seen as predators. Adele Catzim, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Human Development, suggests that people can still help by calling the relevant authorities.

 

Adele Catzim-Sanchez, C.E.O., Ministry of Human Development

“People don’t want to be perceived as predators for children, and so, yes, it is true that we’re not encouraging people to be predators. But when we do see that a child is in need or in assistance, at least we can stop to lend a hand. At least we can stop to inquire, find out why that child is there, and we can call the police, we can ask them if they have the number for their parent, who their parent is, we can call the Department of Human Services. That’s what it is and so there are things that we can do. Yes, we know that there might be predators who are trying to do things, but if people were trying to intervene and someone saw that there might be a predator, they would at least have called the police or called someone else, and maybe there would’ve been more of a quicker intervention for a child. We know we cannot turn the clock backwards, but we do need to use this as an opportunity to learn and to be more responsive as a society. And again, I do reiterate that it’s not everyone who was unresponsive. There were people who tried to intervene and I think that if we can at least highlight that as something that is positive, it encourages other people to then want to intervene.”