I love going to the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life, it is such an inspiration. Unfortunately, there are those who do not share my sentiment and attempted to make things difficult for the many volunteers and participants of the event.

My first clue that some people were being disrespectful of the event that salutes cancer survivors and raises money for cancer research was when I wandered up to the small hill in the playground at River Park. A couple of volunteers were busily working at putting candles in the “hope” luminary arrangement. Knowing that this task had been completed during the day, I inquired as to what they were doing. They told me that they were putting candles back in the bags because they had been stolen. I was shocked! Who could have done this? The main suspect: kids.

No one believed that this theft was done maliciously. Everyone knows that young people often do things without thinking it through completely. Although, a recent study by Prairie Children...Prairie Futures Understanding the Early Years suggested that almost 34 percent of Kindergarten students do not exhibit helping behaviour, meaning that they were not empathetic to others. This is of great concern considering that these are the next generation of parents and caretakers to the aging population.

I drove by River Park at about 1 a.m. during Relay to witness the beauty of the luminaries lighting up the night and attempted, unsuccessfully, to photograph the illuminating sight. What I saw was groups of young people trying to enter the park. Several Relay team members told me that some people were able to get into the park with booze, but were quickly thrown out.

This was disappointing to many of the team members because Relay is not intended to be a night to party and indulge in unhealthy behaviours, it is a night to fight cancer, celebrate those who have survived the disease and remember those who have lost the battle.

A shining light at the end of this story is remembering the Relay teams that were comprised entirely of young people – the Tie-Dyed Tigers, the Crushers and Kim’s Knoxers members were teenagers who put on great fundraising campaigns.

The youngest team, the Tie-Dyed Tigers, raised money practically every week prior to Relay. Kim’s Knoxers had the second highest fundraising total of all the Relay teams, handing over $8,613 for cancer research.

So maybe our youth aren’t losing empathy for others. Maybe they are just kids making mistakes and, hopefully, learning from them - just like they are supposed to!