Spring is bringing the first flocks of teens back to the streets on bikes. Remembering the trouble that ensued last summer, proactive youth leaders like parent Greg Smith (pictured) are getting started early this year. Tuesday night Dwight neighbors talked specifics.
Two youth forums are already planned to make sure kids can engage in productive activities, like jobs and sports, instead of making trouble on the streets. At a Dwight Central Management Team meeting Tuesday Smith and youth activists started gathering momentum.
“The kids haven’t gone anywhere, they’re just two inches taller,” warned police Lt. Ray Hassett at the meeting at the Dwight School. “Some of the kids are starting to roll in groups so we’ll need a plan in place to deal with that. It’s not just a policing problem, it’s a parenting problem. It was our issue last summer, and I’m predicting it’s going to be our problem again this spring and summer.” Hassett said he welcomed new solutions.
Greg Smith, a parent known for starting a “parent patrol” walking beat in Dwight last summer, is one person trying to find some. He’s organizing a Meet the Parents night to expose parents and youth to alternatives to gangs and guns —‚Äù like summer youth programs and summer jobs. “We need to get those parents out. The parents need to be held accountable,” he said. Mainly, Smith hopes to get out information and resources “so we don’t have to experience this summer what we experienced last summer.”
Meet the Parents Night, co-hosted by a consortium of youth-minded leaders, will be held on Wednesday, April 26, at 7 p.m. at the Dwight School on Edgewood Avenue.
A second event will carry that day’s momentum on April 27: A community forum to discuss youth, with youth.
“Very often we don’t hear their voice or get their input,” said Gina Calder of Youth at Work. She showed up at the meeting to promote the event and chat with Smith and others. Terry McCarthy of the YMCA (at left in picture above) showed up too, ushered in with Lt. Hassett’s praise for her pro-youth work. She and Smith traded ideas in the back of the room.
Those who want to get in on the conversation —‚Äù youth especially —‚Äù are invited to attend the town meeting Thursday, April 27, at 6 p.m. at Career High School, co-hosted by the aldermanic Youth Committee and the Roosevelt Institution, an undergraduate think tank at Yale. For more info call 946‑8371.