That was one of the main messages of the keynote speaker at this weekend's Northern B.C. Crime Prevention Symposium that saw members and volunteers from Community Policing and Victim Services groups from across the region attend.

In his address on how to help kids and youth succeed, Pattinson drew on the example of Summerland in the Okanagan, where a survey - the first of its kind in Canada - found that 79-percent of the youth didn't feel valued.

In particular, he said, the youth felt seniors didn't like them.  They took their concerns to city council and council called a public meeting that 400 people attended, where the youth raised their concerns - specifically, they felt seniors were equating them with the three-percent of youth involved seen in the news, involved in crime and violence. One teen wondered why seniors crossed Main Street when they saw he and his friends coming down the sidewalk - when he'd never been hurt anyone in his life.

Pattinson said a florist at that meeting had a simple idea - he offered free flowers for the youth to hand out to seniors on Main Street. He said this sparked such a change in the community - the two groups started to interact, the teens began visiting some of the senior's homes. And, he says, the seniors, in turn, wanted to do something for the kids - they asked what was the worst part of their week, to which the kids replied, "Monday morning", so a group of seniors dressed in red Elvis vests started greeting the youth at school on Monday mornings.

Pattinson says he believes those greetings are still going on - with the seniors saying 'Hi', knowing the kids' names, and learning tidbits about their lives.