Taking aim at teen violence

A Kelowna mom who decided to pick a fight with teen violence in the aftermath of a high profile swarming has found a surprising amount of backup.

Jacqueline Best started a petition asking for amendments to the 2019 Criminal Youth Justice Act that she believes would curb the kind of youth violence that happened two weeks ago when dozens of youth surrounded a 13 year old at Gyro Beach to watch her get beaten.

Since its launch two weeks ago, the petition gained nearly 2,000 signatures but it’s the personal stories that have had the greater personal impact on Best, a mother of teens.

“People are telling stories about how either they or the children have been a victim of violence,” Best said.

“This petition has gone across the country. We are finding out that youth violence is not just a Kelowna problem and it’s sad. Kids should be able to be safe out there.”

Best said she knows that bullying will never go away, but what happened last month and in more incidents she's hearing about, things have gone to far. She hopes political intervention will help curb the issue and the ever-growing petition will be submitted to the province after the election.

One of the changes she most wants to see is the development rehabilitation centre in the Okanagan. She said the centre should focus on repeat offenders, specifically dealing with violence, bullying, harassment, and mental health,” she said.

Secondly, she wants to see parents of repeat offenders to pay fines after repeated offences committed by their children.

Finally, she wants legislation that will make platforms like Snapchat have to share crucial information concerning violent or harmful behaviour with parents and the police.

Currently, SnapChat, Instagram and companies of this kind will not co-operate when issues arise among users, she said.

Five youth were arrested for the swarming two weeks ago. They've all been released on conditions and charges have yet to be laid.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2019, the total number of youth charged of a criminal offence in Kelowna was 57, in 2020 there were 78 youth were charged of a crime, in 2021 there were 46 youth charged, in 2022 there were 32 youth charged and in 2023 there were 81 youth charged.

Those who want to learn more about what Best is looking to do can visit her new website at justice4teens.ca.