I’m not very far removed from my teens, but sometimes I find it hard not to roll my eyes and shake my head at some of the youth I come across.

Just last weekend I went down to English Bay in Vancouver with my family to watch the Symphony of Fire. We arrived early to spend some time in the sun and book a prime location from which to watch the fireworks.

As I lay on the beach reading my book I had a hard time ignoring the conversation that drifted over to me from a few feet away while a group of three teens discussed their drug habits and recent romantic encounters.

A little while later a cloud of smoke wafted over from a larger group of youth making it difficult for me to enjoy the fresh ocean air. (The sour smelling smoke made it clear they were not smoking tobacco.)

Only last week I sat in the Merritt courthouse and heard a description of how a group of teenage girls in Merritt swarmed and badly beat another girl because she had supposedly hooked with a boy that one of the girls was dating. The accused’s defense was that the attack was fueled by alcohol and teenage emotion. When I left the courtroom, I felt tired and a bit sad.

Luckily there is a group of youth in Merritt who are out to redeem this negative reputation that a few of their peers have earned them. This week I had the chance to chat with some of the Smart Step youth as they worked to clean up some of the grafitti and other vandalism around the city. They were not afraid to sweat and even had fun as they volunteered to clean during their precious summer. After my recent experiences, this encounter was a breath of fresh air.

Smart Step founder Nicholas Kang says that his vision for the program is to do more than provide productive activities for the youth of Merritt. He and his army of young people want to actually change the culture that persists so that youth will take ownership of their community and their adult counterparts will expect nothing less.

This weekend Merritt will host another group of ambitious youth as the B.C. Ambassador Program holds its annual pageant at the Civic Centre. These youth are driven, community oriented and education bound.

I think both programs ought to be commended for expecting the best of youth and guiding them to positive actions. Rather than rolling our eyes or bemoaning the youth of today we ought to support programs that are making a difference and maybe even volunteer ourselves.