Day 5: Regular Kids and Riots

Wish 5: Moral Compass

What are the top international stories of 2011? For sure, Steve Jobs' passing and the Japan earthquake and tsunami are in there. So are the deaths of Osama Bin Laden and Moummar Ghadafi. There is an economic crisis in Europe and famine in Africa. Not everything was death and bad news. We saw a political change in the Middle East, the Occupy Wall Street and its worldwide protest, and a grand royal wedding.

Closer to home, Vancouverites have voted for their top news story. It is likely going to be the Stanley Cup Riot.

Why is it such a big story, considering what is happening elsewhere? Well, Vancouverites love their city. It has been voted most livable city in the world for many years. They are proud of its hospitality during the 2010 Winter Olympics. So, they are not happy about a bunch of hooligans besmirching its reputation!

But, these rioters weren't hooligans. They were regular citizens like you and me. But after a few drinks and losing a hockey game, something aside from a fire ignited. They changed into monsters.

How could this be? Were these roiters defiant kids who don't have a chance to express it because of a city's prim and proper reputation? Were they avid players of popular violent games who did not separate fantasy from reality? Or were they attention-hungry anonymous online trollers that finally had a chance to exhibit how they hate everything that other people like?

We'll never know why ordinary people become rioters. One thing I believe they don't have is a good strong moral compass. How do I know this? My kids were there too.

My two sons were in the middle of the crowd that went wild. They knew what was going to happen and they moved away. But not without the curiosity of watching how bad things can get. In one high definition photo, my second son was just two feet away from a wanted rioter, just before hell broke loose. I remembered texting them constantly. They wanted to get out, and I had to drive into the city to find them, and we got the heck out of there.

It was like a test for my wife and me, as responsible parents. Did we raise them right? I know we've made mistakes as young parents, but we never wavered on what's good and bad. From the age of 12, our kids were on auto–pilot. We could not download morality to them anymore. They made their own decisions. They explored their value systems. They make their own destinies. We prayed that we taught them well in their first 12 years.

So here is my own conclusion. I believe my kids did the right thing because they know the right thing. Even if they might drink, or play violent online games, or happen to mix with the wrong kids, they will still know the right thing. I firmly believe they have a moral compass. It is the voice of their parents in their heads, like the voice of my parents in my head.

If we ever failed to be there or give the right advice, we're sorry. But we will always love our children, and we are not ashamed to say that everyday. Maybe it was knowing that love ... which kept them safe that night. We are proud of our children!