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LETTER: Chilliwack parent upset protesters continue to rally near schools

Protesters asked to consider a different location ‘out of respect for kids who are just trying to get home’
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A protester holds a sign on Yale Road near Hodgins Avenue during the Fraser Valley Freedom Rally on Saturday, April 3, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

An open letter to COVID-related protestors:

Last week, I came down to your protests by Chilliwack city hall to try to respectfully discuss a troubling situation wherein your protests are occurring at the same time that school kids are heading home for the day. I had a really good conversation with someone at the protest, thankfully. But it didn’t change anything.

Please understand: I am fully in support of anyone’s right to peacefully protest and to make their voices heard. After my son had been through this cluster of protestors a few times and expressed frustration about the situation, I did talk to him about your right to protest – and the following week, he defended that right to his friends when, once again, they were faced with having to walk through a large group of protestors.

But our children should not be part of this process. They cannot affect any change, and should not be forced to deal with adult-level protests about things over which they, as children, have no control. It causes tension within them, and sometimes between them as friends from families with differing viewpoints. Additionally, involving them in this way (albeit perhaps unintentionally) is stressful to their parents, and so, as a friend of mine pointed out, rather than helping your cause, it hurts it by making parents frustrated and angry. This increases the terrible division in our community, and doesn’t facilitate meaningful or helpful conversation.

Out of respect for kids who are just trying to get home from school every day, and out of respect for their parents, please seriously consider holding off protesting at that location until at least 3:30 p.m. — or moving down the street, away from the crosswalks, until the bulk of the kids have passed through at the end of the school day.

Tracy Friesen

(Editor’s note: A digital flyer said the above protesters intended to rally at the Chilliwack School Board office on Friday, March 4.)

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