Anyone who knows me will tell you that I wasn’t exactly an angel growing up.
I got into trouble once in a while on the path to maturity, got detention occasionally, maybe a suspension or two in high school. And, yes, I “partied” with friends on those weekends we could slip away someplace with something somebody swiped from their parent’s liquor cabinet. We never wanted to get caught, so it was never much.
But, yes, I admit it, and as such, don’t want to be a hypocrite now that I’m an adult (or pretending to be one, anyway).
However, the mess being left in Mamquam Elementary School’s forested area by local kids with nothing better to do is getting a bit out of hand. I live in the area, and spent the past summer with my windows open at night, listening to the noisy youths occupying the school grounds, yelling obscenities or blasting music. At the time, I just thought “Hey, I was young once, too.” However, in the daytime, we find smashed empty 40-ounce bottles of booze, condoms and underwear strewn about the woods. And this is an area that’s really close to family homes, not to mention mere steps away from a playground used by lots of little kids. My own kids like to play in that little forested area, too, but we’ve kind of kept them away these past few months because of the usual after-party mess. Neighbouring houses have called the police on the partying teens, but since the revelry still continues, I assume they’ve done nothing so far. In fact, the day before school started this week, members of the Mamquam PAC had to go and meticulously clean up the broken glass, underpants etc. again just so the elementary school kids could safely play at recess their first week back. It didn’t take more than a day or so for the mess to return.
I have no idea why these teens think an elementary school is an appropriate place for their “fun,” or where they are getting the booze. And, who are their parents that don’t know – or likely don’t care –what their kids are up to every night? But, this is pretty indicative of how – for teens – there really isn’t a whole heck of a lot to do in the evenings or weekends. I remember in the past how kids used to hang out around the Petro Canada gas station for a time.
Well kiddos, the party is over for you at Mamquam Elementary because I’m calling on parents to step it up and prevent their kids from using the school’s grounds as party-central. I’m also calling on the RCMP to step up patrols of the area, too. Get out of the patrol car and check those woods out. Finally, I’m calling on Squamish council to look at the issue and come up with recommendations or something to give teens more to do in their off time. Look, I’m not asking for kids to be angels… but I am sick of the hellish mess they’re leaving behind.
