2000 Annual Meeting Presentation

The George Hull Centre Annual General Meeting
June 5,2000

Guest Speaker: The Honourable Hilary M. Weston, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

I am delighted to be here to support the important work of the George Hull Centre.

Childhood and adolescence in this NET Generation are like nothing we have ever experienced before. The typical family has a variety of models ­ two-career, one-parent, blended families. The extended family of yore, with maiden aunts and grandmothers living under the same roof as parents and children is mostly gone, and parents are left alone to juggle the competing demands of career and home.

As the anthropologist Margaret Mead once wrote: “Nobody has ever before asked the nuclear family to live all by itself in a box the way we do. With no relatives, no support, we’ve put it in an impossible situation.”

When we add to this, the isolation of the family, the statistics about child poverty, the violence we see in popular culture, and the horrendous media stories about abuse in the home and at school, the picture appears very gloomy indeed.

We might ask ourselves, if children brought up in good homes can turn out badly, what hope is there for those from dysfunctional families or bad neighbourhoods? Surprisingly, the reality is that many of these kids do just fine, growing up relatively free of psychological hang-ups. A mixture of nature ­ their own resilience ­ and nurture ­ the early intervention of caring adults ­ can neutralize almost all of the strikes against them.

The great strength of an organization like The George Hull Centre is its recognition of the need our children have to grow up in a community. It does not have to be an idyllic setting, the type we see in the movie “Pleasantville.” Simply belonging, developing skills and relationships in a nurturing environment, are major factors in producing healthy and whole children.

For those who are already hurt by life, the damage can be alleviated by developing relationships with caring adults, or learning skills that build self-confidence. The skilled professionals and dedicated volunteers who work at the George Hull Centre have made it an internationally recognized facility. But the spirit of this place is that of an extended family, committed to helping its children to grow wings and fly. And, I am proud to say that one of innovators in family care is my good friend Elizabeth Ridgely, whose work I have known and respected for a very long time.

In the name of The Queen and on behalf of all Ontarians, I congratulate the staff, volunteers ­ and especially the parents ­ of The George Hull Centre on all that you have achieved. And I wish you and your children every success in the years ahead.