said by Gone:Sports programs are a *huge* benefit to the community and are an excellent way of keeping at-risk youth out of trouble for a whole slew of reasons - teamwork, having something to do, working for a cause greater than oneself, etc. The article is bang on. Even the non-competitive systems that they're setting up for younger kids now is a great way to keep them out of trouble and give them the foundation for staying out of trouble.
said by urbanriot:Agreed. A lot of young men need a positive male role model which they may not be getting at home.
I couldn't agree more. Kids with too much free time are very 'At Risk' of finding trouble.
I'll go one step further though and include girls and a broader scope of organized activities to include dance classes, crafts, instruments and other arts for starters.
I'd also like to see after school programs better funded with decent pay for the people we are putting in these 'role model' positions to attract quality individuals.
They long term pay off for the individuals and society would imo far outweigh the cost. Imagine spending money on kids now or we can pay later.