BCIFV home > Media Releases > April 5, 2001

For Immediate Release: April 5, 2001

Contact: Penny Bain, (phone) 669-7055 or toll-free 1-877-755-7055
pbain@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org

Media Release:

To reduce number of kids on city streets we must increase community services to youth and families

Most of the kids living on the streets of BC's major urban centres migrated from other places, says a report released last week by the McCreary Centre Society.

Some of the kids came here from other parts of Canada. But many came from rural or suburban BC communities, where they began "hanging out" on the street as a way of escaping a deteriorating home life while still living part time at home, eventually making the transition to full-time, urban street life.

However, the report also indicates that this chain of events could be curtailed more often with increased services to support youth to stay with their families, or at least in their communities, until they are older and better prepared for adult life.

"This finding is interesting considering the way the Ministry for Children and Families has backpedaled on services for all but the most at-risk youth in the past few years," says Penny Bain, Executive Director of the BC Institute Against Family Violence.

"The prevailing attitude is that families should just take care of their problems themselves," she says. "Yet not every family is equipped to do that."

Developmentally, the adolescent years are the most challenging for children and parents alike. While youth feel the pull of adult rights and strain at the tightening reins of childhood, parents struggle to help their children grow into adults who are prepared to enjoy privileges wisely and exercise freedom responsibly.

This is difficult, at best, for adults who were well parented, are co-parenting with supportive partners and have adequate material resources.

"But what about parents who came from abusive homes and are fighting the urge to parent as they were parented?" asks Bain. "What about people who are parenting solo, or with inadequate support from families and friends? What about parents who are struggling with the demoralizing effects of poverty or racial prejudice?

The Institute's mandate is to eliminate family violence, which requires understanding its roots. Given the challenges of raising teenagers in the best circumstances, and the unfavourable circumstances in which many families raise children, says Bain, "I don't find it difficult to understand that many parents reach the end of their wits and make poor parenting choices."

These choices push young people onto their local streets. From there, the transition to full-time urban street life is easy. But once kids have made that transition, the risk of violence to themselves - and others - is multiplied, as is the difficulty and expense of helping them escape lives that quickly become complicated by drug use, prostitution and criminal behaviour.

Clearly, the key is to prevent youth from making this transition. The McCreary report shows that this can be accomplished by providing services designed to help families remain intact and keep children in their communities.

"If we are ever to take an active role in reducing violence in our society as a whole, we must look more seriously at reducing the numbers of children on our city streets, and our efforts must begin with restored and expanded support services for at-risk youth and families," says Bain.

For more information, please contact Penny Bain at 660-7055, toll-free 1 877 755-7055, by email at pbain@bcfiv.org or by visiting www.bcifv.org.