What price is a child’s safety worth? (Episode 324)

What price is a child’s safety worth? (Episode 324)

A sunny, crowded youth competition should feel safe. Instead, I looked around and saw no officers, no EMTs, and no plan—just thousands of families and kids, wide open. That moment collided with fresh grief from a church attack and the painful pattern of urgent talk followed by stalled action. I’m speaking as a father and a community advocate when I say: the gap between what we promise and what we plan is putting people at risk.

Across worship services, cheer and band events, school functions, and local festivals, we rely on hope and slogans—“be vigilant,” “see something, say something”—without giving communities someone to say it to or a plan that moves in seconds. We push budgets toward trophies and banners, while the most basic protections—visible law enforcement, an on-site EMT, clear exits, and a communication tree—fall through the cracks. If ambulance coverage and officer presence are standard at Friday night football, why not apply the same baseline to other youth events drawing similar crowds? The deterrence and response-time benefits are real, and the costs are manageable when shared among hosts, sponsors, and districts.

I break down practical, repeatable steps any organizer can use: set headcount thresholds that trigger security and medical coverage, assign a safety lead, coordinate with local police for layout and timing, keep emergency lanes clear, publish a simple map and mass-text sign-up, and run a short debrief after every event. Faith plays a role here too—purpose and prayer guide us to care consistently, not reactively. We don’t need fortresses; we need calm, visible readiness that protects joy rather than dampening it. If we value our kids and our communities, we can treat safety as hospitality and duty of care, not an optional upgrade.

If this resonates, share it with a coach, a principal, a pastor, or an event organizer. Then subscribe, leave a review with one concrete safety step your community will take this month, and pass the episode to someone who can help put that plan in motion.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Shock After Michigan Church Attack

2:30 Rhetoric vs. Action on Public Safety

5:20 A Father at a Crowded Kids’ Event

9:30 The Cost and Value of Security

12:30 Soft Targets: Schools, Churches, Concerts

16:30 Faith, Mission, and Responsibility

19:20 No Security, No EMTs: A Case Study

23:00 “See Something, Say Something” Fatigue

26:00 When Will Enough Be Enough?

30:00 A Call for Standards at Youth Events

33:30 Community Pressure and Practical Steps

38:00 Closing Appeal: From Talk to Action

#ChildSafety #SafeKids #ParentingTips #ChildProtection #SafetyFirst #KidsWellbeing #FamilySafety #ProtectOurChildren #ChildhoodAwareness #SafeEnvironment #ParentalGuidance #InvestInSafety #RaisingAwareness #ChildrensRights #CommunityResponsibility #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #factoverfictionmatters #transparency #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices324

Chapters

• 0:00 Shock After Michigan Church Attack
• 2:30 Rhetoric vs. Action on Public Safety
• 5:20 A Father at a Crowded Kids’ Event
• 9:30 The Cost and Value of Security
• 12:30 Soft Targets: Schools, Churches, Concerts
• 16:30 Faith, Mission, and Responsibility
• 19:20 No Security, No EMTs: A Case Study
• 23:00 “See Something, Say Something” Fatigue
• 26:00 When Will Enough Be Enough?
• 30:00 A Call for Standards at Youth Events
• 33:30 Community Pressure and Practical Steps
• 38:00 Closing Appeal: From Talk to Action

Transcript

JustinAlanHayes: 0:02

Hey everybody, it's Justin. Thank you so much for joining us on another episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. Uh, this episode is uh uh another tough one, uh, another uh topic or two that uh you know we don't like to talk about. Uh first things first, uh, we just went through a uh a horrific scene. Uh people injured, killed at a church of latter-day saints in in Michigan. Let's let that sink in a little bit. You're going to church. Maybe you're not going to church. Maybe you have uh something else going on that day. Maybe your child or a a uh nephew, niece, a real you know, cousin, you know, somebody that's related to you or that you know, and maybe they have uh maybe they have some sort of competition. Give you an example. So, right, church is a place of worship. Uh, we in the United States, we have that that choice that we can uh choose to practice religion or or not, and that's one of the beauties of being uh in the United States of America and as a U.S. citizen as I am. So whether it's church, whether it's college football, uh whether it's uh the NFL on Sundays, whatever that may be, we've had way too many, and I've said this before, but nothing is getting done. Nothing. We hear all the rhetoric of, well, we're gonna learn from you know for next time, and we're gonna prepare, we're gonna be vigilant. If you see something, say something. Well, let me tell you, I've seen some things and I've said some things and reported some things. And to the best of my knowledge, in good faith, I don't believe that anything is being done. So that's kind of like part two. So you might be wondering, like, yeah, whatever, you know, all these things you can you know see all the signs and the symptoms, and well, you know, that's all great for uh, you know, after the fact, right? So after people are killed, after people are uh watch somebody being killed, like Charlie Kirk, live in person, two to three thousand, maybe more. And yet, just yesterday, I as a father, a dad, not just talking about my my child, I'm talking about all human beings, but in this case, it was Sunday, it was for six hours an event was taking place. There were at least maybe 1,500 or more, if you include all the members of the competition. So, you know, they have different levels of competition, and there's you know a squad of four or twelve or twenty, and you have a collection of representation, which is beautiful from around the area, it's over six hours outdoors, beautiful sunny day. There are there were uh a lot of people, right? Think of a sporting event, think of uh football on a Friday or Saturday night, think think of any anything. Think of the concert in Las Vegas, uh, where the individual opened fired from uh the high floor on uh at the Mandalay Day, and how those people injured at passed. Uh they were there to watch a concert, listen to a concert, listen to music, hang out with their family, their friends, their loved ones, and so that happened, and I get it, right? I'm not in Las Vegas. I uh we're not in some huge uh metropolis, but doesn't change the value of a human life, and that's why Voices for Voices, we get a lot a lot of love and support, and we want to say thank you so much for that. You can give us a big thumbs up, like, follow, share, uh, subscribe, all those things that they help us spread our mission and our vision of helping three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. This isn't about me, this is about helping people, one person at a time, and leaving the legacy for my for my daughter. That's what this is about, and so when I attend an event, again, beautiful sunny Sunday, morning and afternoon, uh, competitions going on, so you have children of I believe uh sixth grade and below. So we're talking we're talking about children here, everybody. And so we talk about schools and school safety, and yes, that is important, all of this is important. There's not one thing that stands out that is less important or more important every single time human beings gather together. That's what it we're afforded to be able to do is to get together and get together. I mean, I said it said it twice. Uh and so I go, I attend again this event, this competition, and I see again beautiful sunny days, so uh a lot of people out at least 1500, 2000, I don't know, maybe more. Uh fact of the matter is 95 percent of the fans, of the families, of the supporters of the uh the teams and the competition. Uh they're even more excited and more happy because you know it's a nice day, it's beautiful outside. Uh yeah, it was it was scorching and hot. And love that on a uh end of September day. So we talk about you know the uh the the Michigan uh attack at the Church of Latter-day Saints. Uh we talk about the assassination of Charlie Kirk outside on a beautiful day uh in front of a group of people in the thousands. And I'm not I'm not a law enforcement person that that's that's not my background. I don't claim to know more. Uh I do know, however, that we need to value every life. And when we hear the rhetoric at you know, shooting after shooting, wherever that's at, it's at school, it's at a church, it's at a concert, a nightclub, these are all places where people are gathering together and are somewhat of you know the the lingo of like you know, like a soft target. Uh sometimes there's security, sometimes they're there, there's a lot of security. And and I get it, security costs money, nothing's free. If anybody knows that, I know that there's nothing free, there's nothing given out. There's I uh I don't want an award, I don't care about awards. What I care about is human beings, and so as I again, I'm gonna go back and forth here. Uh I felt and feel empowered to have this show sent out to the world as all our over 320 episodes. Uh, this episode, I believe, will be episode 324. So we got a lot of lot of content in our portfolio. You can find us everywhere. Check us out. And so I'm at this event and I'm looking around, you know, just you know, as the day goes on, you're there for I was there for six hours. And so there was you know some downtime, right? So uh the the people, the individual you're you're there to see uh their performance, let's call it, is at a certain time. And you know, these performances, you know, five minutes, six minutes, four minutes, you know, give or take. And so there's downtime after you know, your you know, your loved one, my loved one, my daughter, I'm her father, I'm her dad from day one. And so number one, I am talking as a father, and then as a human, and then I guess number three is as a leader of an organization that some tell some say nobody watches or nobody listens, and I'm I'm here to help. So if one person watches or listens to any of our episodes or shows, which they have, I uh you know the analytics uh all the way can't be trusted, um because there's private servers, and you know, when you're when you're when you're dealing with you know intelligence and things like that, there uh that there's certain numbers aren't gonna come through, and and I'm good with that. We all should be. And so trying to help people is what this part of my life is is for, you know, this second half of my life. That's why I'm so passionate about voices for voices, what we have done, what we continue to do. I can't do any of this without God. So God is in my life, Jesus Christ is in my life. I pray, I pray, I pray, and I pray, and I don't just pray for me, I pray for others, I pray for family, my family, families across the world, whether we're in agreement or whether we're not, we're still human beings, and so I pray for everybody. I pray for people that are my enemies or are attacking in certain ways, and so this is why we're here. So at this competition, there was no security, none whatsoever. Zero. And I think we can relate, especially if you have a child or family member that is going through the you know the school system and you know they play a sport or participate. Sometimes there's you know additional fees and and money that has to be paid in order to participate. Uh and so the money gets collected before you know the season or if yeah, the season begins. And these competitions I'm not just talking about the one I was at, I'm talking about all competitions. That when you have that many people, when you have a couple thousand, friends, family, loved ones, children, I mean competing and the teams and coming together as as a team and uh building confidence and uh in their abilities, and it was a beautiful thing to see. And I you know was brought to tears a couple of times because uh because number one, my you know my baby's growing up, our baby's growing up. Two, she's having fun, and that's all I want is for her health, safety, happiness, but not just my daughter, but your daughters, your sons, your family members. Uh this is for everybody. And then there's uh you know, behind the scenes uh certain certain actions have been taken, and I I refuse to give up. I refuse to just be a speed bump or uh you know being steamrolled. And you should too. You you should a thousand percent what you believe in, you know, put it in it, putting it on the line, and and so that's what we're doing. If you've been with us from the beginning or caught other episodes, or this is your first one, you know, we're transparent, we talk about things, we talk about hard topics that others don't want to talk about, uh, or people say, Oh, well, you shouldn't talk about that, you know. Well, we are. And so I'm at this competition yesterday outside a lot of a lot of children performing in their groups in their competition, and there's judges, and and you know, there's awards, you know, that are that are handed out and and all that, and you know how families are, you know, you know, we try to support the best way we can. And one of the ways is just being there, being there, and I again I'm just you know taken aback by um so much so that there's no security nowhere, none. I didn't see one one one police car. I also didn't see an ambulance either, and we're talking about uh competition competitions where some of the uh participants, you know, they do acrobatics and and back flips and all the of those things, and so there's a real there's a real uh I don't say threat, but there's a chance that at least maybe maybe one you know twists an ankle or is injured. We don't want to see that. However, if that happens, this event is big enough that having an ambulance, having a having a doctor, having a physician, uh emt, having some somebody there, that if something were to happen, they would be able to go in right away, assess, and do their job. And so, you know, I we hear you know all the different sides of the political spectrum that uh you know we don't want to bring more guns in into the classroom. We don't we don't we don't want to have to do that, uh and and so at schools at least my understanding, at least the current state, is that law enforcement is taking things serious at school to an extent that they can, right? Because there's we always hear the words, you know, limited resources, limited resources. Well, we gotta add, so then we gotta, you know, uh raise taxes because you know we're gonna add need to add so many um you know police officers, uh individuals. And so I say, well, okay, I get it, I hear it. But we just had a couple weeks ago Charlie Kirg assassinated in front of thousands of people and on TV. And I I don't I don't know what what type of security was or wasn't there, that doesn't matter. What matters is that a human being was taken from this earth way too soon with Charlie, that these individuals at the church of latter-day saints, regardless of what your beliefs are, uh you know, setting a church on fire, and and what things are information is still still coming out and will on that, but there's too many of these things that are happening. Even when I go to church, there's no no security. I get it, cost money. We don't wanna, I don't know. I'm I just know that I'm sick and tired of hearing all of the commentary that we need to do more, we need to do more, but we can't do this. Well, when how many more lives had to be taken? How many more children have to be taken from the surface? How many individuals that are gathering at uh at church or a uh cheerleading competition or a football game? Uh how many more before we wake up? People, this is not changing, it's getting worse. And as a person that is sharing and trying to talk this public safety concern, public health concern. You might ask, well, what's a public health concern? It's something that could injure or kill individual individuals or make them sick, poison, whatever that may be. And so I say to all those naysayers that when's enough going to be enough. I had to witness my own child at a competition with a lot of people on a sunny day, and I didn't see one security personnel. So I don't know, I don't know who's default there. I don't know if it's the where where that that liability uh lays or lies. I I I don't. But what I do know is I don't I don't want my child or your child or your nephew or niece or your grandson or granddaughter, uh, your cousin, uh teammate. Well, I don't want any of this to happen to anybody else. And so I've been sounding an alarm, I've been talking about hard topics, I bring up things to the proper authorities, and as of today, gotten zero response, me personally, and so again, I just go back to a gathering of people supporting their child, their loved one, and that there is no security at at all anywhere. And so that makes me very, very, very troubled that I mean, people are you know how parking arts are, right? At schools, you know, they're people are parking in the grass under trees. It's like it's it's uh there's a lot of people, is what I'm getting at, and they're gathering together. Just like those people at the Church of Latter-day Saints, just like Charlie Kirk at his uh his engagement in in uh around Provo, Utah. And we keep hearing, well, we need to do this or that, or well, our government's not doing enough, or we don't want them to, and that we didn't get the votes we needed, or I don't know. But I'm damn sure that if it's your child, your loved one, that happens to be in one of those locations, and something nefarious happens, you're gonna be just as outraged as I am. And you should be so we need to do something. We always hear, oh, you know, be vigilant if you see something, say something. I mean, this goes for uh a target, an individual that uh is targeted for whatever reason, whatever that means. So it's for those situations too, where if you see something, say something, if you hear something, if you know something, if you have some information, share it. Well, I've shared it. I shared it with the proper authorities, and again, to this day, zero has been done. You know what has been done? A family of supposed loved ones attack you and attack me. So that's what's going on. So we're just keeping it real, as Tyrus would say, what it is. This is what it is. So I don't know what's getting in the way of these things, I don't know why uh things happen the way they do. Uh, I just I just put my trust in God and Jesus Christ. So you know it's his will to be done, not mine. And I want to help people. I am, and it's not just me, it's so many others associated with voices for voices. I want to thank you for joining us wherever you may be at home in your car, on the subway, on uh on a plane, in an airport, on train, in a taxi, an Uber, a Lyft, where at wherever. I I'm just I'm exhausted at what we have to do, and what what we have to do so that when we show up to an event, we don't have to worry about oh, well, there might be some threat, and maybe. Maybe the organizers of the event thought that, oh, there's no threats, you know, this is just, you know, uh we do this every year, and you know, we bring, you know, bring uh teams or squads of individuals that do a performance, and and and then they get judged, and and people are cheering, and they have signs, and uh, you know, they'll blow horn, and you know, it's it's a fun atmosphere to be around. And it just bothers me to no end that there's there was no security there. Not not just talking about you know my my daughter, talking about all the others that were there too, all the people in the stands, and so I wanted to put this out, and am putting this out because it needs to be said again and again and again and again that how much is enough? How much is enough? We're all very we're all very uh cognizant of traffic signals, traffic lights, you know, these roundabouts, these circles, you know, are are in some areas taken the place of traffic, traffic lights. Uh some of the research says that you know there's less accidents, and so that's good. We we we want less well, less act accidents, we want less damage, less people hurt, or have the chance to even be hurt. Um but these traffic lights, I remember growing up at a certain extent, I don't know what year it was. Um, but there were some there was at some point when I realized a certain intersection was just very dangerous. It was just it was just dangerous, and there were accidents, people end up getting hurt, and we hear all the time, well, we don't have the money to put up a traffic signal, we don't have the money, it costs this this amount, and but we do after so many people get hurt or killed, uh, injured, maimed. So, what's that? What what what's the magic number? How many people have to be injured, killed, uh, maimed for a competition like I was at yesterday on the very day again this uh this attack at the church Latter-day Saints in Michigan occurred. We all say, we all think, well, that can't that that happens other places, that doesn't happen where I live. Oh, you know, it that that just that doesn't happen. Well, guess what? It does, and it's closer than you think. Not because we want to think that, it's just the truth, and so I'm just gonna close with this. We need more security at events, especially those when there's large gatherings. So I argue if there's money to have security at a high school football game on a Friday or Saturday night, and have an ambulance there, right? I mean, exactly what I'm talking about. If that's able to occur, and there's money for that, then where the heck is the money for the security for uh a chair competition when there's a couple thousand people that are literally sitting ducks and hundreds of children that they're doing their performance, and then there's again there's there's that downtime. And so I don't I don't I don't know who who this who needs to hear this, who needs to see this, but if you're in a place where you can affect change in a positive way, and you can make it so the next cheer competition that there is a law enforcement presence, and there is medical treatment presence, just as high school football or high school basketball. We have the money for that, right? We got all we got we got money, we can handle that, we can you know uh and so it makes me just makes me you know beside myself to think that that the cheer competition doesn't rise to the level of oh well we need to you know secure it, we need to secure the site, we need to you know do whatever we do, uh surveillance on roofs, on people, on I mean, whatever that is, we need to do it. I mean, we go travel, right? Have to go through security. I don't think there's one of us that likes it because we all want to just get to our gate and get on our plane and and that, and but uh that that's just uh an understanding that we need that, and so we need to have an understanding that whether it's my child or your child or your relative, sibling, uh, what have you, that their lives matter too. Not just somebody that not just you know, a football player or basketball player, or uh we got the money for the the the law enforcement and the EMTs for those types of events, a cheer competition, part of hosting that cheer competition, or what you know, band show or bands from all over come and they they play and they have a show. Uh we we need people to step up. I'm trying to, I'm trying my hardest while getting pushed down at every every turn, left, right, center, everywhere. Voices for voices is under siege, and I'll actually end it this time. But we know, or we should know that if people are disagreeing with us, that's fine. That's fine, like we're we're allowed to do that. What it also means is what we're doing is probably something that needs to be done, needs to be said. Uh and so again, God's my strength, He He guides me, He gives me the strength to to do laundry, to pick up groceries at the store, uh to do this, to be able to talk and hopefully make some some sense uh out of uh uh out of the show. So we're saying something. We've said something. And let this show, this podcast, this TV show, let this be that ember of of light, that glow, to know that we can, we can in fact affect change in a positive manner. We just want to have, we just want to what we just want somebody else to do it. No, if we want that ember, if we want to see that light at the end of the tunnel, we all need to chip in. We all need to bring this up to the proper individuals, authorities. That yesterday there was a cheer competition in Medina High School, Ohio, and a couple thousand spectators, and then you have the uh the cheerleaders, grade six below to uh to first grade, and there was no security nowhere. There's no emt nowhere, and so I'm calling out we need to support and have law enforcement and medical attention available at these events, and we need the security, we need the presence of security, we need people to see that there's security. Because I pray there never there never comes a time where something bad, negative, or people get hurt or worse, added to your competition, or another, another another event that's put on the back burner and and isn't a priority. I guarantee it'll be a priority if it's your child. I guarantee that. And so I'm saying this as a father, as part of Voices for Voices, that this is a public health, public safety concern. And let's do something about it. The time for talk is over, it's time for action. Action. It's time for action. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the show. Uh, thank you for the love and support you've given us. Past, present, future. You can give us a big thumbs up, like, follow, share, subscribe, all those things are free, and they help us uh get closer to that goal of ours to help three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. So, again, for uh for signing off, this is Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices, and please be a voice for you or somebody in need. We'll see you.