Recently, I got to know Pastor Timothy more personally. He is my senior, and for more than a decade he was involved in street ministry in Hong Kong, walking alongside people who were struggling, hurting, and often forgotten by society.
Pastor Timothy is also a very gifted musician. Today, one of the ways he gives his time and heart to the community is by teaching young people to play musical instruments. At first glance, this may simply look like music lessons. But for him, it is also a meaningful form of youth support and drug addiction prevention.
His approach reminds me of something very important: prevention is not only about warning young people to “say no” to drugs. Of course, we should continue to help young people understand the serious consequences of substance use and addiction. But if prevention only means telling youth what not to do, then we may be missing something deeper about youth development.
Young people need more than warnings. They need meaningful relationships. They need safe spaces. They need adults who are willing to spend time with them, listen to them, encourage them, and walk with them. They need opportunities to discover joy, discipline, creativity, confidence, and purpose.
Music can offer all of these. When young people spend time learning an instrument, they are not only filling their schedule. They are learning focus. They are facing challenges. They are experiencing beauty and fun. They are discovering peace in the middle of stress. They are learning that growth takes practice, patience, and perseverance. They are also finding a healthy way to express themselves.
This is why I believe drug addiction prevention must be understood in a broader and more human way. It is not enough to frighten young people with terrible outcomes. Fear alone does not build resilience. Shame does not create hope. Information is important, but information alone is not formation.
Real prevention begins when we help young people build lives that feel meaningful and connected.
This also reminds me that families and parents must be part of the conversation. Young people do not grow in isolation. They are shaped by their homes, their relationships, their schools, their peers, and the wider community around them.
Parents are often the first people to notice when a child is struggling, losing confidence, becoming isolated, or searching for belonging in unhealthy places. But parents also need support. Many parents today are carrying heavy pressures—work, housing, financial stress, language barriers, cultural differences, and the challenge of raising children in a fast-changing world. We should not simply tell parents to “do more” or blame them when young people struggle. Instead, we need to build stronger partnerships with parents and families.
Drug addiction prevention and youth development work best when families, schools, and community organizations work together. Parents need good information, but they also need encouragement, practical support, and trusted spaces where they can ask questions without shame or judgment. Schools need to listen to parents, and parents need to be welcomed as partners in supporting the growth and well-being of their children.
When young people see that the adults around them are connected—parents, teachers, mentors, coaches, faith leaders, and community workers—they are more likely to feel supported. They are more likely to know that they are not alone. They are more likely to find help before a crisis becomes too deep.
As a community, we need to ask: Are we creating enough safe and supportive spaces for our youth? Are we giving them enough opportunities to explore their gifts? Are we helping them find belonging before they feel lost? Are we investing in activities, relationships, mentorship, arts, sports, leadership, and community programs that help them grow?
For me, this is also an important part of public education. Schools are not only places where students receive information. Schools are communities where young people grow as whole persons. They need academic learning, but they also need emotional support, healthy relationships, creative opportunities, and a sense that their lives matter.
When we talk about protecting children and youth, we need to move beyond fear-based conversations. We need to focus on building the conditions that help them flourish.
That means listening to students. It means partnering with parents. It means supporting teachers and school staff. It means working with community organizations. It means creating safe and supportive schools where every young person can find encouragement, belonging, and hope.
Pastor Timothy’s music ministry is a beautiful reminder that sometimes prevention looks like a guitar lesson, a piano practice, a patient teacher, a safe room, a caring adult, and a young person discovering, perhaps for the first time, “I can do this. I have something meaningful to give.”
That is the kind of community I believe we need to build for our children and youth.
A community where we do not only tell young people what to avoid, but help them discover what is worth living for.
If you have any questions, concerns, or reflections on this topic, please feel free to reach out to me at info@billmok.ca. I would be grateful to listen, learn, and continue this important conversation with families, parents, educators, students, and community members.
You are also warmly invited to share this reflection and my campaign website with others who may care about the well-being of our children and youth. And when the time comes, I humbly ask for your vote, so that I can offer my support, experience, and insight to more families, parents, and students in Richmond.
最近，我有機會更深入地認識 Timothy 牧師。他是我的前輩，曾經在香港從事街頭服侍超過十年，陪伴許多正在掙扎、受傷，甚至被社會遺忘的人。
Timothy 牧師也是一位非常有恩賜的音樂人。如今，他其中一種貢獻社區的方式，就是花時間教導年輕人學習樂器。表面上看，這可能只是音樂課；但對他來說，這也是一種支持青少年、預防藥物成癮的重要方式。
他的做法提醒我一件很重要的事：預防，不只是警告年輕人「不要吸毒」。當然，我們仍然需要幫助年輕人明白藥物使用和成癮可能帶來的嚴重後果。但如果預防只停留在告訴青少年「不要做甚麼」，我們可能就忽略了青少年成長更深層的需要。
年輕人需要的不只是警告。他們需要有意義的關係，需要安全的空間，需要願意花時間陪伴他們、聆聽他們、鼓勵他們、與他們同行的成年人。他們需要機會去發現喜樂、紀律、創意、自信和人生的方向。
音樂可以承載這些。當年輕人花時間學習一種樂器，他們不只是填滿時間表。他們在學習專注，在面對挑戰，在經驗美感與樂趣，在壓力之中尋找平靜。他們也在學習成長需要練習、耐性和堅持，並且找到一種健康的方式去表達自己。
因此，我相信藥物成癮預防必須以更廣闊、更有人性的方式去理解。單單用可怕的後果去嚇唬年輕人是不足夠的。恐懼本身不能建立抗逆力；羞愧不能創造盼望。資訊是重要的，但只有資訊並不足以塑造生命。
真正的預防，是幫助年輕人建立一個有意義、有連結感的人生。
這也提醒我，家庭和父母必須成為這個對話的重要一部分。年輕人不是在孤立中成長的。他們受到家庭、關係、學校、朋輩，以及整個社區環境的塑造。
父母往往是最早察覺孩子正在掙扎、失去自信、變得孤立，或在不健康的地方尋找歸屬感的人。但父母本身也需要支持。今天，許多父母承受著沉重的壓力，包括工作、住屋、經濟負擔、語言障礙、文化差異，以及在快速轉變的社會中養育孩子的挑戰。我們不應只是要求父母「做多一點」，也不應在青少年遇到困難時責怪父母。相反，我們需要與父母和家庭建立更強的伙伴關係。
藥物成癮預防和青少年成長工作，最有效的時候，是家庭、學校和社區組織能夠一起合作。父母需要正確的資訊，但他們也需要鼓勵、實際支援，以及可以放心提問、不被羞辱或批判的可信任空間。學校需要聆聽父母，而父母也需要被歡迎成為支持孩子成長和身心健康的伙伴。
當年輕人看見身邊的成年人是彼此連結的——父母、老師、導師、教練、信仰群體領袖和社區工作者——他們會更容易感受到支持。他們會更容易知道自己並不孤單，也更有機會在危機變得太深之前得到幫助。
作為一個社區，我們需要問：我們是否為青少年創造了足夠安全和支持性的空間？我們是否給予他們足夠的機會去探索自己的恩賜？我們是否在他們感到迷失之前，幫助他們找到歸屬感？我們是否願意投放在活動、關係、師友同行、藝術、運動、領袖培育和社區項目之中，幫助他們健康成長？
對我來說，這也是公共教育非常重要的一部分。學校不只是學生接收知識的地方。學校是一個讓年輕人作為整全的人去成長的群體。他們需要學術上的學習，但也需要情感上的支持、健康的關係、創意的機會，以及一種深深知道「我的生命是重要的」的感覺。
當我們談論如何保護兒童和青少年時，我們需要超越以恐懼為中心的討論。我們需要專注於建立能夠幫助他們茁壯成長的條件。
這意味著我們要聆聽學生，與父母建立伙伴關係，支持老師和學校職員，並與社區組織合作。這也意味著我們要建立安全和支持性的學校，讓每一位年輕人都能找到鼓勵、歸屬感和盼望。
Timothy 牧師的音樂服侍，是一個美麗的提醒：有時候，預防看起來像是一堂結他課、一段鋼琴練習、一位有耐性的老師、一個安全的房間、一位關心的成年人，以及一位年輕人也許第一次發現：「我做得到。我有一些有意義的東西可以付出。」
這就是我相信我們需要為孩子和青少年建立的社區。
一個不只是告訴年輕人要避開甚麼，而是幫助他們發現甚麼值得為之而活的社區。
如果你對這個題目有任何問題、關注或反思，歡迎隨時透過 info@billmok.ca 與我聯絡。我很樂意聆聽、學習，並繼續與家庭、父母、教育工作者、學生和社區成員一起進行這個重要的對話。
也誠意邀請你與其他關心兒童和青少年福祉的人分享這篇反思和我的競選網站。當投票日來臨時，我也謙卑地請求你的支持和一票，讓我能夠為列治文更多家庭、父母和學生提供我的支持、經驗和見解。
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