MODELLING BEHAVIOUR

The death toll continues to mount in the gang warfare that is
plaguing this part of the province.

On Monday, there were two shootings in Surrey. One saw a man wounded
outside a nightclub. He drove into Langley before calling for medical
attention.

Later on Monday morning, a woman was shot and killed as she drove on
a busy street near Guildford. She had a four-year-old child with her
who, miraculously, was unhurt.

There have been numerous other shootings in Vancouver, Coquitlam,
Port Coquitlam, Langley and Abbotsford.

While both the federal and provincial governments are making various
pronouncements on this issue, it is not a problem that will be solved
by laws alone.

Tougher laws, tougher bail requirements and stricter sentencing will
assist in putting some people behind bars for longer periods. But the
lure of easy money will remain.

While some are calling for legalization of marijuana as the answer,
this is simplistic. Not all these drug dealers deal in marijuana.
Many deal in harder drugs that very few advocate legalizing.

And as history proves, criminals will always find some sort of
enterprise that allows them to reap big profits, strut their stuff in
public and private, and disregard the hard workers all around them.

Some people always want to engage in activity that is distasteful and
repugnant to many others. But as long as they have customers willing
to buy drugs, sex, guns or whatever else they are offering, they will
remain in business.

In terms of young people being attracted to this lifestyle, it is
important to remember that most young people are hard-working, honest
and straightforward. A few become enthralled with a life in the fast
lane - but they often have little to show for it after a few years,
if they manage to remain alive.

The best place to prevent young people from following this downward
path is in the home, when they are young. Parents and caregivers need
to remind them of the importance of being contributors to society,
instead of merely leeches upon it.

The modelling that we do for the young people we influence can have a
profound effect on their lives - for good and for bad.