Well said. Vancouver does seem to be in denial over a lot of what happened. Riots are premeditated and planned, and there were plenty sporting Canucks shirts, burning cars and looting.

The police have been praised for keeping order. Yet they did not anticipate a repeat of the 94 riots and by the looks did not plan for this eventuality. There was mayhem for about 4 hours before rioters got bored and most went home, before the police could regain control. I filmed a lot of this myself and the city looked like Baghdad during the air strikes.

One of my facebook contacts said how parents have to take the blame for all of this. Stupid comment really. However, parents have no control over their kids, especially in Vancouver. There is no sense of responsibility or discipline. Never consequences for bad behaviour. Isolating a child in school due to bad behaviour is frowned upon. And what we saw on Wednesday is the consequence of growing up with lack of responsibility and zero consequences.

errr -why especially in Vancouver- what makes us so bad??

It's where I live and what I've noticed. Not sure of other parts of Canada, although lack of consequences, discipline and responsibility does seem to be a global trend. IMO it's particularly noticeable here (in Vancouver), and the results are clear to see.

While Vancouverites may dream that these thugs are organized gangs who put on Canucks shirts to blend in, they are probably just everyday fans. What's horrific is how crowd behaviour can influence this kind of BS, coupled with no sense of responsibility. However the consequences are very real and they won't miss out on this occasion.

Great article

Well I think that is a crass generalisation and a load of old clap trap- having come from south London with kids at a nice local church school and a decent grammar school and moved to to East Van (not the posh North, west or Kits) I have been suprised that most of the kids are a lot more polite , well behaved and able to hold a decent conversation with an adult than a lot of their old classmates in the UK .

They are disciplined, have ground rules and get punished for breaking them. I'd like to know where you feel it is particularly noticeable in Vancouver? undisiplined

I notice it all the time, and am only stating my own observations. Vancouver has a reputation which I think it does not deserve. My point is that it's not really any better than anywhere else. However Vancouverites do seem to think they have the perfect life, raising perfect kids and a shining example to the rest of the world. What happened on Wednesday clearly and undeniably proved this myth to be bullshit. At least in places like South London, parents realise and admit their kids and their parenting are not perfect.

Vancouver is a bit like a cross between Desperate Housewives and Stepford Wives. Generalizations are usually true, despite have the odd exception.

No - that's North Burnaby (shudder) - hence why we moved back to E Van .

No your point before was that it was particularly noticeable in Vancouver and now you say it is not really better than any where else - so which one? YOu will always find people that think they have the perfect life - or project that, but look inside and there are always cracks.

the only thing I have noticed that is the main difference between Canadian and in fact N Amercan in general) parenting and the brits is that here everything is awesome and there are awards for all and sundry - which is gonna be kick in the face when they get into the real world .

Hmm and I forgot to add, I do not feel threatend when walking through the parks or streets here and there are groups of teens, they usually all will say hi or good evening, if I have the dogs with me they usually comment and want to play / stroke them . .in the Uk such meetings were met with a barrage of insults / sexual innuendo - not what you want from a spotty 15 year old whose mother is probably older than you any way!

Lack of consequences, discipline and responsibility is something that's particularly noticeable in Vancouver, as is the "I'm the perfect parent ... look at my brain dead kids, aren't they perfect?". Also the delusion of being superior to the rest of the world. So when I say it's no better than anywhere else, that's exactly what I mean. Not a contradiction at all.

Regarding your comparison with London, it's a moot point because I was not saying kids are more polite in Britain at all. My point was about responsibility and consequences, and the fact that parents in Vancouver do seem to believe their parenting and kids are perfect. Scenes like Wednesday night would horrify most communities, but must have been a colossal blow to Vancouver as a direct result of this.

Then of course the customary denial, i.e. "these aren't Vancouver people", to "this is a group of anarchists, probably not even Canadians". Of course. In fact I'm sure they are Bruin terrorists who were set up to burn down Vancouver wearing Canucks shirts, to add an extra kick in the nuts to the one received during the match.

These were kids of parents who have probably congratulated themselves for being such amazing, wonderful parents. Now little Tyler and Brad are torching BMWs and looting Sears; the latter proving the point that they are not only little thugs, but also have zero taste.

tbh El Richo I have not been insulted by any teens here -even late at night in the park when they are smoking dubious stuff . . . I have had a couple of "remarks" from the pan handlers by the stations but they were the ones that were obviously mentally ill. First time I walked the dogs alone one evening here and saw a group of teen boys I automatically felt threatened, but as I came nearer they all said good evening, nice dogs, wow what breed etc, I walked past thing err wtf happened there .

Our local park in the uk was practically a no go area in the eve due to drunken teens, in the end the Council had to lock the park at dusk But even in the day time a I walked past you could guarantee there would always be some snide comment



Thats my experience here and there so am not generalising it for the whole of the Uk and Canada but in response to CC's comment that ALL Vancouver kids were basically un parented!

As I said before, where are these perfect parents with brain dead kids, cos they aint in East Van . .maybe people shouldnt diss the east side so much eh!

I think we're arguing two different points here. I'm talking about widespread lack of responsibility, not saying all kids are thugs. I AM, however, saying that there's every likelihood that the vandalism and violence on Wednesday, was home grown, and that must have been a shock to parents, who, in my opinion and experience here, are in delusion as a parent, and their kids seem to be brain dead. I was only in a park yesterday and one of my kids kicked off, and EVERYBODY stared at me instantly as if to say go sort it out. Rushing in the moment one of the kids is frustrated over something is fairly typical of this place. Kids will NEVER learn if all you do is intervene. They'll just grow up to take no personal responsibility, and end up doing something, like uhm, burning cars or looting Sears. It's the same with allergies. It seems that most kids here have a collection of food intolerances. Again this is no doubt to over-bearing, over-protective, holier than thou parents, rushing in to protect little Jay from the slightest impurity in the world, causing their immune system to be ineffective, and demanding that they spend the rest of their life in a protective bubble. I mean almost every kid seems to have some allergy or other, and these are down to parents destroying their immune system through being over-protective. Tantamount to child abuse, some might argue. But those same parents would look down their snout at someone letting their child's immune system develop. All contributes to the "I'm so perfect" syndrome this place is flooded with.

Although I cannot help but to agree with you about East Van. It is the part that the people who I'm referring to (snobs), look down their nose at. My realtor when I moved here, really aggressively encouraged me to not consider looking here. That was bad advice though as it is about the most pleasant, and exciting part of Vancouver, with more genuine, likeable and down to earth people. I think I made more friends since living in East Van, over a few months, than in the 7 years I've been in Vancouver area.

Perhaps I live in a an alternate universe, but to 4Bell's point, I can't say I've noticed this either. My experience has been that the expectations of behaviour at school/playground has been very high...my then 6 year old has logged her fair share of time in the principal's office for being naughty. Frankly I wish parents were a little more laidback here Like Bells I've never ever felt threatened by teens here..generally they're pretty respectful polite etc.

Having said all that I thought London Mike had it spot on with his post. Just because a kid is nice 90% of the time doesn't mean that, given hormones, stupidity of youth and the right set of circumstances, that he/she can't be a complete twat in a riot as well. I suspect that's what happened on Wed night. But again, maybe I live in an alternate universe, no one I have spoken to thinks it's not locals. In fact one of my coworker's brothers was a looter....

While I agree there is an element of this here, it's not every parent, and to link it to the riot is a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge stretch.