With their G-Unit hats, shirts, hoodies, pants, shoes, socks, and underwear.
cough, cough…I am a teenage mother.
I know I am quoting this from like 2 pages ago…but it really bothers me to see a comment like this, whether it was with a good intention or not. I had my baby a few weeks before my 17th birthday.
Everyone makes mistakes, I made the decision to keep my child because I had put myself in that position so I figured I might as well deal with the consequences of my actions.
So what I did was:
-I finished high school.
-I worked my ass off to feed and clothe my kid. (…and still do.)
-I have a hard earned full time job.
-I never once stepped foot into the welfare office or asked for assistance of any kind.
-Six years later, I do not have other children.
-I own my home.
…all without the ‘fathers’ help…but with the support of great family and friends.
I agree there are a lot of teenage mothers out there who are the polar opposite (unfortunately), but there are a few like myself who make the best out of it and really work hard.
On the issue of vandalism…it is definitely out of control.
Where I grew up, kids who vandalized someone else’s property whether it be big or small; would end up in jail and get the living shit beat out of them by cops. (Gotta love Europe)
I am not saying that is the answer, but what these kids need is a wake up call.
Respect is a huge issue.
I was raised being told to treat others belongings better than my own…
I never stole anything in my life or vandalized anyone else’s property because I know someone put a lot of hard work into owning what they have, and I never really understood what would be so cool or even the point of breaking/stealing something…
Get out there, get a part time job…hang out with your friends, watch a movie, stay at home read a book, play sports…so many other choices out there.
I was lucky to have a parent who taught me all these things, and steered me in the right direction…something which I know a lot of these kids do not have.
Teachers/councilors/friends should approach these kids and offer to help somehow.
They need to know there is someone out there who does care.
Where I work, sometimes we have kids who need to do community service…and even though it’s my job to give them the shittiest thing to do while they are there, I try and befriend them and let them know there are people out there who care.
Some of them respond to it well, and some probably think I am crazy.
Blah, I talk way too much. I thought I would put my piece in here anyway.
Nicely said I’m glad you are alright and had family support and also give kids who come there to do there hours, encouraging words.
I would also like to echo what the Capsules said, Goobylicious:-) Very well-said! 
That is a wonderful success story. 
It’s alright, I wasn’t really offended. I just wanted to say there are lots of hard working young moms out there. 
I come from a very dysfunctional family/environment, and I definitely understand why some of these kids act the way they do. The trick is to recognize the problem and try to make yourself a better person. Sometimes the shit you experience can push you down so far, you cannot see a way out. I pushed back twice as hard and broke through.
Like I said, the youth here just need a few dedicated people to make them see that.
Unfortunately, those people are hard to come by for many reasons.
Blah blah, off I go again. Interesting topic is all.
I always like to see there are intelligent folks still left in the world, hats off to you!
Nice post Goobylicious but I think your story is definitely an exception to the rule in Rupert.
“Everyone makes mistakes, I made the decision to keep my child because I had put myself in that position so I figured I might as well deal with the consequences of my actions.”
While the previous “poster” did not perhaps articulate their thoughts clearly, I think what they were trying to say was that there are too many children having children. Children today grow up too quickly, and while I commend you for all you have done I think we all need to remember that children are gifts and not consequences that we might as well deal with.
Something needs to be done about the vandalism in town and the general disrespect for property. It saddens me to walk down the street and see garbage about and flower bed pulled up; for what? I wonder if why these people are doing this what they are thinking. Yes, they must feel very powerful pulling up a flower bed; very powerful indeed.
There seems to be a real lack of respect for most things in general these days, perhaps not just in Prince Rupert. No respect for others, no manners, no one cares and no one is friendly; no one smiles at you in the street or takes pride in keeping their city clean. I think some people, not all, have replaced their sense of pride with a sense of entitlement. It’s sad.
Indeed, having my child was a gift. 
Even at such a young age.
Yet, definitely a consequence of my naive mind set back then, in my opinion.
In all truth, having my daughter was the best life experience so far.
She taught me more about myself than I could have ever thought.
She is the reason why I work so hard, and care about our youth so much.
Kids are our future.
…oh, I am in total agreement with you on lack of respect, manners, just a simple smile or a good deed is not just a problem in Prince Rupert. It’s everywhere.
not everyone is horrible… i smile at people when they walk by and when i was in highschool i was very active in the community volunteering and such. and that was not so long ago i might add
everyone seems to have the perception that its just the youth out there being disrespectful and such… but i see just as many adults doing the same thing. no one cares at all about anyone else but themselves anymore. its turning into big city mentality, every person for themselves. and thats really sad to me.
and as for children growing up too quickly as far as i can tell the ones out there doing all of this vandalising and such arent too grown up at all. maybe us as adults need to focus more on being positive role models for our youth. show them that there is someone out there who cares and isnt just thinking about themselves!
It’s all about fear and fear does not come from a man or women who looks 12yrs old but we the tax payer pay them: cops…It is a joke the kids are not scared here and the , for the most part, adults are not either…If PR is going to become a city then it’s time to beef up the force…No more Dad, the owner of the tackle shop, gets his son a job with the rcmp…2007 not 1955
I don’t have problem with more police. Can the city afford more police? I think they’re stretched a bit thin these days.
Well said.
As I am a bit older I’d like to speak to this. I can look back at the last 20-30 years. Yes, we did have a lot of problems back when I was a kid, but there are some differences today. I’ve noticed that society in general seems a bit more violent today (perhaps not so much here, but, in larger urban centers like Vancouver.) The gang violence related to drug trafficking, turf wars is getting nasty. People are getting shot-up in restaurants. I don’t recall this level of viciousness as a kid.
the sunday province is doing a 6 part special investigation in to BC Growing menace street gangs and thugs, I read abit already seems interesting. its a growing problem all over the province.
[quote=“trilinearmipmap”]There is an unstated assumption that things were different in the past. If only we could go back to the good old days. But the good old days didn’t exist. Maybe the problems took different forms, but 20 or 50 or 100 years ago things were just as bad, or worse.
[/quote]
There were no good old days indeed. Pick any year, and I’ll give you a list of reasons why 2007 is much better. Better health care, better communications, better work conditions, less crime, etc.
[quote=“hitest”]
I don’t recall this level of viciousness as a kid.[/quote]
Because you weren’t really paying attention, the “if it bleeds it leads” 24-hour media wasn’t trying to scare the living crap out of you, or you just didn’t hear about it.
The bottom line is that violent crime is at an all-time low, and has been going down since the middle of the 80s. This is especially true for youth crime. But that doesn’t scare people, it doesn’t sell newspapers or get people to watch the news. Fear does.
There are no good old days. Just inaccurate memories.
Yeah, good points about the 24/7 media blitz that we endure these days. Yes, we do indeed have selective memory. 
It is indeed all about the ever present 24/7 media hype and the need for sensationalism in all media… Horrible things have happened since the beginning of time, obviously, but without that hunger for the gory details at anyones and everyones expence…It is a sad commentary on human nature that we seem to thrive more on the bad news and whisk all the good news under the carpet…Always thought it would be great to publish an “only good news” newspaper but I would be bankrupt in a month 
[quote=“codybear5”]
Always thought it would be great to publish an “only good news” newspaper but I would be bankrupt in a month 
[/quote]
At least then you’d make it into the other papers. lol
**
I don’t think it’s only youth and I don’t think it’s everyone…but there are a lot of people who can use a manners lesson.
Growing up too quickly in the sense that they are out late at night and “in charge” of themselves at an early age. The ones doing the vandalism need an outlet for their stupidity. I think there are a lot of people in this town that think of others before themselves and maybe these idiots that do the damage should be the ones to clean it up and fix it.