On Oct 20, 2006, at 5:24 PM, Jim Keady wrote:
<x-tad-bigger>As for spending money on recreation, as an example, I can get a basketball league going two nights a week (which means two nights that these young guys won’t be on the streets) for about $3-4K. This is a far cry from the tens of thousands it would take to hire one new police officer with benefits. I may also be able to get this paid for without city money, similar to my soccer program that I run in town where the program is completely self-sufficient through donations and fees.
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As someone who participated in Jim's soccer program this past summer I can honestly say that I think things like the basketball league and other recreational programs CAN play a difference. It won't be immediate, obviously, and it won't solve all of the problems but it's not something that should be dismissed unless you've seen it up front and close.
Why do I think it helps? Well, myself and three others were the only white people playing among people of many races and countries of origin. Playing on the field together helped all of us learn something about each other. It took race out of the equation. Who knows, maybe if enough of the people started recognizing the things they had in common with each other it might stop some of the violence. And if the kids have a chance to further their basketball skills they might start believing that there was another route for them - one that didn't involve selling drugs. There was at least 1 kid who played in the soccer league that showed plenty of signs of possibly being able to play college football at the highest level, which means a free ride for a college education.
Giving the kids a chance to see other routes is what can help change the culture that exists right now. I think the recreation league alongside more police (or tougher) enforcement are both extremely important.
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