The comments here are sad. A few people are constructive, noting that children need fun activities, but many act like we should lock all children from ages 10 to 21 in the workhouse! When children go to the library, folks complain. When they go to the zoo, they complain. Man, it's like they really hate black children! The problem is that being a shitstain full of disdain for children who behave in any ways that are different from the documentary Leave it to Beaver is that it's tough to reach the youth that way.

I think people like that have given into a despair, and a nihilism that is the mirror of the nihilism and despair that some of our criminals show. By saying "it's just those bad teens who choose to be thugs", they not only other our teens, cutting them out of community, but also cut them out of our ability to make things better.

You don't have to be a parent to make life better for a child. Maybe it's by pursuing policies that make it easier for mothers, fathers, grandparents and other people raising children. Maybe it's by volunteering. Maybe it's merely encouraging your church or community center to have extra programs for the kids that aren't little and cute. But don't give up- children are part of this community too.