Wednesday, March 27, 2002

A parent's responsibility

By GREGORY K. MOFFATT, PH. D
Child's Play

The writer of an editorial in one of the local papers a few months ago complained that young people in Peachtree City do not have enough to do. The writer argued that one reason for the increase in arrests of young people is because they have no youth center or place for them to congregate.

Statistics back up this person's argument. Communities that have youth centers and places for children to congregate see a decrease in some kinds of juvenile crime. However, there are at least three problems with this gentleman's argument.

First of all, I do not agree with the premise that there is nothing for children to do in Peachtree City or our county. On the contrary, there are many things for children to do in Peachtree City and Fayetteville.

There are places for shopping, outdoor athletic fields, bookstores, and public libraries in both cities. There are parks, an indoor soccer center, movie theaters, batting cages, running tracks, biking and walking paths, lakes, swimming pools, a dive center, and restaurants.

What the writer of this editorial really means is that there is nothing for children to do of a specific type. Specifically, there is no youth center. Even though I agreed with some of what the writer said, the editorial sounded somewhat like my children when they look past mounds of toys, books, video tapes, computer games, the swimming pool, bicycles, pets, and so forth and tell me that there is "nothing to do."

A second issue is perhaps even more important. For some reason the writer supposes that it is the city's responsibility to entertain the city's youth in order that youth arrests might be reduced. I do not believe that it is the city's responsibility; rather I believe that the responsibility to monitor a child's behavior lies with parents.

While it is certainly an advantage to have a recreation facility, there is no obligation or promise made by Peachtree City, Fayetteville, or any other community to provide specific forms of entertainment for anyone - youth or otherwise. The crime rate is the city's problem, but the solution begins at home, not at City Hall.

Finally, there are factors that contribute to lowered juvenile crime rates other than the presence or absence of youth centers. Children who are supervised by their parents are far less likely to engage in vandalism, sexual assault, petty crime, stealing, and the use of drugs and alcohol.

Teenagers should not need 24-hour a day supervision, but I'm talking about parents who are actively involved in their children's lives. It is an unfortunate truth that many parents are uninterested in supervision of their own children and look to others who will take on that obligation.

Other parents are interested in their children, but they are too busy with their own interests, jobs, and hobbies to take an active role in their children's lives. In either case, these parents just want their children out of the house and out of their hair.

My friend and I had a business meeting at a Fayetteville restaurant one afternoon last fall. Our meeting started in the early afternoon and continued after the high school dismissed for the day.

Between 10 and 15 young people congregated at the booth next to ours. They smoked cigarettes and engaged in loud and vile conversation for an hour. I eventually left and the group was still there more kids drifting in as time passed.

I thought it was interesting that these kids could hang out for an hour or more after school, engage in unhealthy behaviors, and apparently raise no suspicions or concerns at home. I am guessing that most of them did not have a parent at home.

It is unrealistic to expect children with no accountability and no supervision to make responsible choices. This mentality doesn't take place overnight. It comes from a history in a home where parents communicate that anything goes as long as the child doesn't cause any trouble for the parent.

A youth center in such cases will only give these kids a place to congregate and engage in the same behaviors they would have anywhere else. Buildings where kids can hang out do not promote a healthy community; rather it is involved and active parents that can make a difference.