Drugs, violence, death: Teens share view of life in Thunder Bay housing complex

Some teenagers who live near the Limbrick Housing Complex in Thunder Bay, Ont., say they don't feel comfortable in their own neighbourhood.

In early September, a 14-year-old was charged with second degree murder after a man died following a stabbing in the area.

• Thunder Bay police arrest teen in stabbing death

"I don't like it [the neighbourhood] because there's a lot of drugs, fights, there's a lot of, just, violence and it's not the neighbourhood that most people want to have their kids in," said Colin Redfern, a 15-year-old who grew up around the corner from the housing complex.

His concern is not for his own safety, he said, but instead he worries his younger relatives might fall in with the wrong crowd.

"I've seen a lot of drug deals around here and a lot of people just sitting around the kids' parks during the day, like at four in the afternoon drinking," said Redfern.

Those adults, sitting in the park in the afternoon, are also the ones getting kids involved in drugs and alcohol, according to 16-year-old Hunter Thomson, who has lived in the neighbourhood for the past three years.

"It makes me really mad because they're just little kids and they shouldn't be introduced to that until they're old enough and ready," he said, adding he'd like to see more surveillance in the area.

"For instance when the stabbing happened they don't know who did it because there's no footage. I think they should put cameras up on the houses in Limbrick and stop all the drugs," said Thomson.

He would also like kids in the area to have more options when it comes to activities. Thomson suggested building a splash pad or a skate park in the neighbourhood, to give young peoplean alternative to drugs and violence.