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In our Thursday edition, we featured a story about Janine Edwards, the newly elected district attorney in Wayne County.
We hope DA
does well in
her new roleThough we went into the interview with the angle that she is the first female DA in the history of Wayne County, what we came out with was a simple fact: She seems to really care about her job and is serious about making the office work for the people.
The fact she is a female is irrelevant to her and should be to everyone else.
The office of the district attorney has many functions. We all see and read about its main function which is to prosecute criminals. Edwards is laser focused on that aspect of the job. She wants to make sure criminals in Wayne County get the punishment they deserve.
But the office has so many other roles to play they are too numerous to mention in one column.
One thing Edwards told us which stood out is that she wants to play a role inside the school systems in the county. That means going to the schools and educating the students about not only the dangers of issues like Internet predators but also of the consequences which could result if students get involved in such activities.
It’s easy for critics to claim that “every student” knows about technology and what’s out there and the dangers. That may not be the case for every student, but probably is for most.
However, we believe it’s safe to say that most students either don’t know or don’t want to know about the consequences.
This is where the district attorney’s office can really help. Young people are impressionable and many are simply unaware of the dangers which lurk. All adults can relate to their younger days when they would do dumb things like speed on tree-lined roads or jump into a shallow lake.
Everybody has been there.
What has changed since those days is how young people keep themselves entertained. Sure, some still drive crazy and jump into lakes, but almost all of them are now tuned into the electronic age of iPads, cell phones and computers. They are globally connected. And we all know that not everything around the globe is good. In fact, there are many bad things around the globe and everyone — including young people — has access to those things.
In our Thursday edition, we featured a story about Janine Edwards, the newly elected district attorney in Wayne County.
We hope DA
does well in
her new roleThough we went into the interview with the angle that she is the first female DA in the history of Wayne County, what we came out with was a simple fact: She seems to really care about her job and is serious about making the office work for the people.
The fact she is a female is irrelevant to her and should be to everyone else.
The office of the district attorney has many functions. We all see and read about its main function which is to prosecute criminals. Edwards is laser focused on that aspect of the job. She wants to make sure criminals in Wayne County get the punishment they deserve.
But the office has so many other roles to play they are too numerous to mention in one column.
One thing Edwards told us which stood out is that she wants to play a role inside the school systems in the county. That means going to the schools and educating the students about not only the dangers of issues like Internet predators but also of the consequences which could result if students get involved in such activities.
It’s easy for critics to claim that “every student” knows about technology and what’s out there and the dangers. That may not be the case for every student, but probably is for most.
However, we believe it’s safe to say that most students either don’t know or don’t want to know about the consequences.
This is where the district attorney’s office can really help. Young people are impressionable and many are simply unaware of the dangers which lurk. All adults can relate to their younger days when they would do dumb things like speed on tree-lined roads or jump into a shallow lake.
Everybody has been there.
What has changed since those days is how young people keep themselves entertained. Sure, some still drive crazy and jump into lakes, but almost all of them are now tuned into the electronic age of iPads, cell phones and computers. They are globally connected. And we all know that not everything around the globe is good. In fact, there are many bad things around the globe and everyone — including young people — has access to those things.
That’s where someone like DA Edwards can make a difference. Is she going to change everyone? Not even close. But if she can enlighten even a few, she’s made a difference in our neck of the woods.
We are very encouraged she wants to be involved in the schools and encourage officials at the schools to be open to this concept. It can only be a positive relationship and we see no negatives which can come out of such an initiative.
We applaud her effort to want to make the office of the district attorney open and accessible.
Expanding that role into the community can only lead to good things. Time will tell how well Janine Edwards handles her new role. We wish her the best and look forward to working with her in this new role.
