October 21, 2004 Miramichi, New Brunswick Children across North America will soon have access to an interactive street proofing game aimed at keeping them safe, thanks to a Miramichi-based company. "Sydney Safe-Seeker and the Incredible Journey Home" is an interactive computer game aimed at five- to ten-year olds, which teaches street proofing skills and how to respond appropriately in situations where they feel uncomfortable. The game is the brainchild of Allan McCullough, President of Child Safety Research and Innovation Centre (CSRIC). "In 1985, I was shocked by the horrific story in Augusta, Maine of a 15 year-old girl who had been murdered," says McCullough. "I wanted to find some way to educate children and youth on safe street-proofing strategies that they could use in potentially unsafe situations and, through research, came to believe that using role playing multimedia would be the most effective strategy." McCullough, however, was ahead of his time, and it has taken 19 years for the technology to catch up to his vision. With the launch of Sydney Safe-Seeker, McCullough has seen his dream come true to have a fun game for children which uses game play and interactive role play to establish life- long street proofing skills. The game also provides assessment reports and coaching strategies to parents and teachers so that they can help children reduce their risk of being a victim. The goal is to have the game made available to schools, educators, parent, and safety professionals throughout North America. A number of partners and agencies have helped make the game a reality, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, National Missing Children Services, Victims of Violence, Missing Children Society of Canada, Miramichi Police Force, National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). "Making our cities and communities safe places to live is a key priority of the Government of Canada," said Charles Hubbard, Member of Parliament for the Miramichi. "By raising the awareness of safety issues among parents and their children, this ground-breaking software will help made Canadian communities safer places to live, work and raise a family." The Government of Canada has invested in this initiative through both ACOA and NRC-IRAP. ACOA has provided a $227,607 repayable contribution toward the Centre's project, which also includes fine-tuning an existing Internet Education Portal, and marketing activities to increase the awareness of the product in target markets such as Child Protection Agencies and elementary schools across North America. NRC-IRAP has an agreement in place with CSRIC. One of the objectives of this agreement is to help build small and medium size enterprises' (SME) innovative capacity by collaborating with them in the development of innovative technologies for the child safety community as well as the policing, firefighting, and emergency measures communities. NRC-IRAP also has projects in place with the developer of Sydney Safe-Seeker, through its Technology Partnership Canada program, providing technical and financial support to Canadian SMEs. ACOA's investment was provided through its Business Development Program (BDP), which provides repayable loans to small- and medium-sized businesses for set up, expansion and modernization. - 30 - Alan McCullough President ¿ Child Safety Research and Innovation Centre (506) 773-5687 Ron Crozier Office of the Minister of ACOA (902) 888-4150 Sharon Stanford-Rutter Senior Communications Officer, ACOA NB (506) 452-3698 Sgt. Gary Cameron Media Relations, RCMP (506) 452-4252 Suzie Keténé Senior Communications Officer, NRC-IRAP Atlantic & Nunavut Region (902) 426-8961
