Hi, just wondered if anyone would care to share their opinions on raising children in Canada, as opposed to the UK?

Pros, cons, that kind of thing!

I have children here. My brother has children in the UK. They're similar ages. Mine haven't reproduced.

Yikes!

How old are your children? How long have you been in Canada and how did the children take to living there?

26, 24, 22. They were born here and grew up here but spent their summers in Europe. All of them finished high school without getting pregnant. Otherwise I don't think things were very different for them than for my brother's children, they had similar educations, participated in similar sports, took up drinking and drugs at similar ages, they spent a similar amount of time exploring European countries at similar ages. My children grew up with a more diverse group of friends but that's more due to location within the country than the country itself; the south-east of England just doesn't have the immigrant population that Toronto does. All in all I'd say that based on this small sample the difference is that the Toronto educational system is better at selling the use of contraceptives to its students.

Don't know how to answer

What's your parenting skills like?

We always bought the best house we could with the largest Mortgage we could handle, we were able to ensure the Boys were raised in an environment where people shared our value, not whether to go to university, but which one??

You raise kids to a certain age, then to a large extent, their friends raise them, and that is the key, know their friends, now what they are up to, get them in at least one sport a season while you can, athletics and a team spirit do help.

I have 6 Brothers, all our Children are vastly different, from one who is a Welfare Mother who bleeds the system, the whole gamut to another who Teaches Music and is very active in the Baptist church.

Mine are the University Trained, my Brothers , Electricians.

Whats with all the capitals??

They Are oN SpecIal TodaY!!!

dare I say it??? BOGOF!

Don't know how to answer that either?

I wasn't questioning parenting skills, I was just curious to know how different, it at all, life was for children in Canada?!

We visited with friends a couple of summers ago in Eastbourne. Their kids and ours are all about the same age (8-11).

After the initial novelty of being from different countries wore off, there didn't seem to be much difference at all.

Is there no-one out there that moved to offer their children a better life?

My question has obviously confused people?!

The thread 'Why do you want to leave the UK' seemed to concentrate on the influx of immigrants - we have a long list of why we do want to leave, but that certainly isn't one of them. My husband, as a carpenter, works with Polish and Russians, who are very hard-working (although he has to admit the standard of work isn't so high!) - so if they are prepared to work and pay their dues - why stop them?!

Our main concerns are our children - youth culture is reaching epidemic proportions - the town we live in has an average house price of £400,000 and 33 children were refused a place in a local nursery (it even made national news!) .... I could go on but I won't bore you... I just wonder how life in Canada would differ for them .. if at all?

I don't think this directly relates to the country in which the children were raised but it's interesting anyway. Is attending university better than having a trade skill? If so, any degree from any university vs. any trade skill? What about trades taught at universities; computing or nursing for example? Is this point even about the education or is the point that Howard, and by extension anyone living in Canada, can afford to send his kids to university?

I think one problem with your question is the size and regional variations in Canada.

Kids being brought up on an acreage in Nova Scotia would probably have a different set of experiences from an inner city area in downtown Toronto or Vancouver!

I do believe that there is possibly less of a drinking culture here .... but kids do drink, and many youngsters smoke (not just cigarettes). They don't tend to hang around in aimless groups, smashing up the neighbourhood ... not in our neck of Calgary anyway .... probably too cold! And grafitti/vandalism is relatively rare. I might add that neither of my two tended to that sort of activity in England either....
Certain areas have a higher crime rate than others, but it is arguably much lower here than where we lived in Sussex. However, we do have some drug/gang/gun culture problems here in the city, and there have already been several murders this year. Do not think this is Utopia!

Kids play hockey and hang out in malls etc. Opportunities for organised sporting activities are numerous, but not inexpensive! Children appear "nicer" in the main, .... much more polite and respectful.

My son enjoys high school and there are many different ways in which the schools encourage a rounded confident individual (in our experience).

Personally, we feel we gave our kids a huge advantage, bringing them to Canada. They were aimless and failing back in the UK, and nobody seemed to care. Now my elder boy is doing and engineering degree at University of Calgary.

Whatever opinion anyone gives, there will be somebody to disagree and argue on here, but for us and ours, it was the best thing ever to come to Calgary!