oa | Daa there are teens who. .
commit vandalism, and there are many

possible reasons behind our actions. A lot of

us teens are raised in an unstable environ-
ment, in which our parents abuse alcohol or
drugs, physically or sexually abuse us, or
just don’t talk to us enough concerning the
rights and wrongs of life. *

On the other hand, some of us are in-
fluenced by our peers’ actions, and live in
perfectly stable households. These are the
teens who are normally responsible for the
vandalism in Terrace.

We teens choose to do this because we
have had troubled childhoods, or abuse
drugs or alcohol, or are angry at the world,
our parents, or anyone else that we may —
see as an authority figure. In our minds we
have no alternative for dealing with our
problems other than to drink, take drugs,
or cause trouble in Terrace because of what
we have learned from other teens or from
our parents. .

I myself was never raised correctly. I
was bounced from family to family so
much, and I never learned how to deal with
these constant movements. I was never _
treated in any way other than as a trouble
maker, my problems were never addressed,
so I received my only attention by doing
wrong things, I eventually started to hang

out with the wrong crowd, and began to use -

wo

drugs: and aleohol: T I spent:

- different institutions

many different times i in-

around the province. I
have since stopped using —
drugs, and I'm beginning |
to straighten my life out,
thanks to the support of

Joe Alienback: In our .
minds, no alternative.

various people who care. .
for me, people who want.
to help me work out my problems.

The question here.is: When you hear of
teens doing vandalism, do you see us as

bad people who have no future?, or do you
see us as troubled people who need help

with the way they deal with our many

difficulties, such as abuse, or drugs and

alcohol? |
The community needs to find ways to

help us teens. Several programs that the

community has provided are Alcoholics
Anonymous, Responsible Teens and Par-
ents, and Reconnect. If you are a teen who
is in trouble and you need help‘: and support
to stay out of trouble, look into « one of these
programs.

Parents should ‘support us if we decide ~
to join one of these programs: If they: choose
to attend, parents should come. along and
see what the programs are all about. In
order to put vandalism to an end, the teens
and the community must work together.

— Joe Allenbach

Terrace Review — March 13, 1992