Behind the Badge
The Mind of a Child
District Game Warden Zach Schuchard
Every year Dickinson Parks and Recreation hosts a program they call “Safety City,” an informative program for 5- to 7-year-old kids.
They cover a wide variety of topics including bicycle safety, fire safety, railroad safety, stranger danger, and where I come in, boat safety.
There’s a mockup of city streets taped out on the floor complete with street signs, crosswalks, railroad crossings, and local businesses (local business sponsor the event and have their logos put onto boxes to indicate buildings on the sidewalk).
For a few years now I’ve gotten the privilege of going to the Heart River Ice Center to talk with the two groups they have.
I discuss life jackets, the proper way to wear and fit them, when they must be worn, items you need to have on a boat, and some items that are not required by law, but are helpful when the time comes.
Between topics discussed, there are always comments like “I went on a boat last weekend” or “I’ve never been on a boat.”
It can get challenging to keep a group of around 30 kids involved, but when I pull out different props, they all try to guess what they are and what they’re used for.
I usually bring three different kinds of life jackets, a throwable personal flotation device, a fire extinguisher, a paddle, a first-aid kit and a whistle.
The one prop that always gets the most attention is my inflatable life jacket. I open it up and show them there is a CO2 cartridge inside of it that will automatically inflate if I end up in the water. This is always met with the question “Can you make it go off?”
Unfortunately, that’s a request I can’t make happen for them; instead, I’ll let them try their arms with the throwable PFD.
A lot of the information discussed will fly right out of their heads as they run back to the dried-out ice rink and jump on their bicycles to ride around the mock city, but if even one small detail gets brought home and relayed to mom and dad, it’s all worth it.
One day last summer I got the confirmation that one of those details sunk in for one child.
I was working with fellow game warden, Zane Manhart, on Patterson Lake. We had been on the lake for a couple hours checking boats when a fishing boat came near with the operator waving his hand in the air.
I assumed the individual had something to report, likely a boat operating too close to them or a personal watercraft too close to the public swim beach, but when they stopped about a boat’s length away, I heard the individual ask, “Are you Zach?” “Sure am” I answered.
The individual said something along the lines of “You just taught boat safety to my child a couple weeks ago and when he saw you out here, he had to show you he was wearing his life jacket.”
Standing halfway behind his father I saw a little boy in a brightly colored life jacket. He was too shy to come fully out from behind his father and didn’t want to say anything himself, but his smile beamed from the boat.
He seemed so excited to be showing the game warden that he had listened and was following the rules.
I told him he was doing a great job and to keep it up before they pulled away and went back on with their day.
Driving around the lake the rest of that day I was feeling a sense of accomplishment because I knew my time that day was worth it and that if something were to happen on the lake that day, at least that child I spoke to would be safely secured in his life jacket.
Community involvement is one of my favorite parts of this job.
We get the opportunity to meet the members of our community in a friendly setting not involving some kind of violation and we get to show we are approachable people.
Children can see we aren’t the scary people some would portray us to be and, hopefully, we can impart knowledge onto these moldable minds.
Being a communications major, I’ve always enjoyed talking with people and public speaking opportunities, so when I get an opportunity to represent the North Dakota Game and Fish Department at events like these, I tend to jump all over them.
So, if you’re ever at a public event and see the Game and Fish booth, stop by and let’s have a chat!