There has been a lot of talk around town and the region about what “we” (aka government) needs to do to stop youth criminal activity. My question is what can I do. The following are things that I and others like me have done. We are not super people. We are just caring people who know that punishment is not the cure.
I am a board member of The Scribe’s Institute, inc. (www.thescribesinstutue.org). Last weekend we had a picnic. One of my fellow board members was teaching a few of the students how to swim while others played in the sand and on the playground equipment. It was a great day. It was a day that the students could get out of the house without hanging out on the streets.
We meet on Saturdays throughout the school year. Last fall I taught the students about the engineering and science of flight. This included black people’s contribution to flight. In the winter I taught them about the history of weather prediction. In the spring I taught them about wild life management. We designed and built an Owl house. Then we ended the year with a tour of the “Bradley Air Museum”. In addition to my instruction, we had three professors from The University of Leads in Yorkshire, England share their expertise in volcanism, polar ice mapping, and sink holes. We had a board member that taught the students Spanish. He finished the year with “Northeast Festival of Languages” in which we “live zoomed” around the world to individuals in about 20 countries. They talked to us in their native language and showed us what they do for work and play. We watched a woman make custom jewelry in France, visited a beach in Israel, learned how to cooked native cuisine in Columbia. I have also been a cub scout master and a boy scout master. There are many such opportunities. I hope I have inspired you. Please find something you like to do and share it with the youth around our community. An army of people like you spreading hope not hate is the solution.