MikeUK

If I was still there I'd snap that up too...

Roberto1980

Hi there,

Could you expand on this a little? We have two young daughters of our own, and although it will be a long while until they are teenagers its obviously something as a dad I think / concern myself about.

In your experiences what has been the main pressures for your daughter growing up in Barrie?, as opposed to what you think she would have been exposed to back in Ireland.

Growing up in the west of Scotland, I know full well the things I went through that I'd like my daughters to avoid.
But we moved, and are currently living in a 'nicer' area than what my wife and I grew up in so I'm sure it wouldn't be exactly the same for them... (although unfortunately being the west of Scotland you're not more than a stones throw away from a rundown area )

But.. are we (and others UK immigrants ) naïve to think, and use the phrases ' its a better lifestyle for the kids' .. 'kids are allowed to be kids longer in Canada'... etc

I have now heard about this semi legal weed thing on a few occasions. So what exactly is the deal with this? Is it really a the mainstream recreational drug of choice over there? How do the police deal with it when they 'stop' a youngster and find them in possession?

Playing devils advocate here but, is a group of stoned teenagers not the lesser of two evils compared to a group 'blitzed', aggressive on cider and vodka?

Walsh Clan

Of course.

What I have experienced in the schools my daughter has attended (2 elementary schools because we moved and one high school) is that there is a general acceptance to weed, even more so than alcohol. Many parents smoke it, which in turn gives their kids opportunity and belief that it is ok to do the same. This is not just a random statement but something I have personally witnessed. And this is not based on where you live, wealthy and not so wealthy have a generally relaxed attitude to weed. I rang some parents last summer when I discovered there was a party which my daughter was at (14) and the parents were ok with smoking weed and drinking because they were there at the house. I am pretty savvy that these things take place and I was no angel myself but it was their attitude to the situation which shocked me (they are kids), and which caused difficulties for my daughter because her mother was "overreacting" to the situation. I'm pretty laid back in general but I needed to understand why marijuana was so widely available and accepted for use by teenagers. I understand your point about weed over alcohol but the quality of the weed is the issue, who know's what is in it and where the supply comes from. I have read a lot of reports of larger drug hauls and police involvement at that level but I haven't witnessed or heard of any smaller offences personally.There isn't a pressure per se, when there is an acceptance and if the buzz disappears and you want to bring it back, what do you use then?

So I needed to keep her busy after that. Volunteering for committees, horse riding lessons leading to boarding a horse (all her free time taken up), weekends away, moving house were all solutions both my OH and myself put into play. Is it Barrie and surrounds? I only have experience of here so I don't know.

With the advancements in technology and freedom of information, I'm not sure kids anywhere are able to be kids any longer, though if you get kids into sports here, the choices are amazing and there's an abundance of opportunity. My daughter wasn't sporty in general but had a love for horses.

Would it have been different in Ireland? I would have had many more eyes on her, that's for sure and working in a busy environment means jugging work responsibilities and home responsibilities where I might have lost sight of her activities at times.