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I live in Baltimore. My city just broke 318 homicides. To give you an idea our record is 353. Our police are catching kids as young as 12 with firearms. Kids as

I live in Baltimore. My city just broke 318 homicides. To give you an idea our record is 353. Our police are catching kids as young as 12 with firearms. Kids as young as 14 in brutal armed robberies. If I didn't have to worry about income. I would create arcades all over the city. Complete with huge computer labs and tons of video games. My goal is to create a positive environment that kids WANT to be in. They'd receive help with school and home work, have access to the internet, tons of video games books and movies. I really just want to get the kids off of the street. There are lots of kids here that don't have two parents that care if they succeed or not. Teach them things like how to deal with their emotions and things like conflict resolution. When I was a kid I had "play all day" arcades for $5. I can't imagine the trouble I would have gotten into if I didn't have that arcade or our library wasn't accessible. I'm in a position now where I can either leave the hood and fend for myself and my family. Or I can try and do something to make a difference. I've even considered quitting my job to pursue this. If income was no worry, I would do this.

legacynl 9y ago
Nice idea, I do suspect the effect would be minimal though. It's not because they're bored these kids get into trouble.
- millzlane 9y ago
  Agreed. I think things like mindfulness, mentoring and conflict resolution would also go a long way. This would be more than a place to cure boredom. Think of it like the wholesome family's house in the neighborhood that no kid wants to leave. It gives them a place to learn and explore the world and themselves. This also would be aimed at a 10-14 age range. So hopefully catching them before entering the stage when they're not really thinking clearly.
  - JBlue42 9y ago
    Have you worked with any gang/police task forces to get their perspective? Maybe there's something you can start that doesn't rely on a whole lot of money.
badrabbit 9y ago
I disagree with your solution. Less guns and more discipline at a young age would go a long way. Why should a kid take your lecturing and conflict resolution seriously if he/she hasn't been raised knowing their actions will lead to very real and immediate consequences. The prison and juvenile detention systems encourage criminality not correction. Maybe the needed education is for parents. Social shaming of abandoning your child raising spouse might help too. I'm just saying,it's always best to address the disease instead of the symptom and that at the foundation of a child's life. Just my humble opinion.
- millzlane 9y ago
  >I disagree with your solution. Less guns and more discipline at a young age would go a long way. Agreed, But until you can outlaw owning a gun and criminalizing bad parenting we won't see any realistic change. >Why should a kid take your lecturing and conflict resolution seriously if he/she hasn't been raised knowing their actions will lead to very real and immediate consequences. It because the incentive would be admission to the center. It would be part of the experience. If they're not taking it seriously or behaving inappropriately privileges will be revoked. My hope is that they will receive this type of risk reward reinforcement at the center. >The prison and juvenile detention systems encourage criminality not correction. Maybe the needed education is for parents. Social shaming of abandoning your child raising spouse might help too. Agreed. Maybe national ad council money can be used for this social shaming of sorts. But sometimes it's not as simple as everyone abandoning their children. But again no one criminalizes bad parenting. >I'm just saying,it's always best to address the disease instead of the symptom and that at the foundation of a child's life. Just my humble opinion. Agreed. We needs to attack the disease and not the symptoms. Things like passing more gun laws aren't going to help this city. We have some of the strictest laws in the country. Criminal don't follow laws. This is known. The key is to reach these kids before they're picking up guns. We need to find out what drives their urge to rob, maim, and kill. Sure we can say it's bad parenting but it also goes a lot deeper than that. I had bad parents, grew up in a single parent home, and I don't feel the need to rob or kill. Sure it's anecdotal but it just a small piece of evidence that some kids turn out fine with shitty parents.
  - 9y ago
chmln 9y ago
Your ideas come from a great heart, but I think they're a bit idealistic. I have a very hard time imagining children voluntarily attending classes on "how to deal with their emotions and things like conflict resolution". You're also assuming that things you were interested in as a child (arcade) will be interesting to children now. None of these attack the root causes of crime, but rather try to deal with the symptoms. Which is great, but is not a solution.

legacynl 9y ago

Nice idea, I do suspect the effect would be minimal though. It's not because they're bored these kids get into trouble.

millzlane 9y ago
Agreed. I think things like mindfulness, mentoring and conflict resolution would also go a long way. This would be more than a place to cure boredom. Think of it like the wholesome family's house in the neighborhood that no kid wants to leave. It gives them a place to learn and explore the world and themselves. This also would be aimed at a 10-14 age range. So hopefully catching them before entering the stage when they're not really thinking clearly.
- JBlue42 9y ago
  Have you worked with any gang/police task forces to get their perspective? Maybe there's something you can start that doesn't rely on a whole lot of money.

badrabbit 9y ago

I disagree with your solution. Less guns and more discipline at a young age would go a long way. Why should a kid take your lecturing and conflict resolution seriously if he/she hasn't been raised knowing their actions will lead to very real and immediate consequences. The prison and juvenile detention systems encourage criminality not correction. Maybe the needed education is for parents. Social shaming of abandoning your child raising spouse might help too. I'm just saying,it's always best to address the disease instead of the symptom and that at the foundation of a child's life. Just my humble opinion.

millzlane 9y ago
>I disagree with your solution. Less guns and more discipline at a young age would go a long way. Agreed, But until you can outlaw owning a gun and criminalizing bad parenting we won't see any realistic change. >Why should a kid take your lecturing and conflict resolution seriously if he/she hasn't been raised knowing their actions will lead to very real and immediate consequences. It because the incentive would be admission to the center. It would be part of the experience. If they're not taking it seriously or behaving inappropriately privileges will be revoked. My hope is that they will receive this type of risk reward reinforcement at the center. >The prison and juvenile detention systems encourage criminality not correction. Maybe the needed education is for parents. Social shaming of abandoning your child raising spouse might help too. Agreed. Maybe national ad council money can be used for this social shaming of sorts. But sometimes it's not as simple as everyone abandoning their children. But again no one criminalizes bad parenting. >I'm just saying,it's always best to address the disease instead of the symptom and that at the foundation of a child's life. Just my humble opinion. Agreed. We needs to attack the disease and not the symptoms. Things like passing more gun laws aren't going to help this city. We have some of the strictest laws in the country. Criminal don't follow laws. This is known. The key is to reach these kids before they're picking up guns. We need to find out what drives their urge to rob, maim, and kill. Sure we can say it's bad parenting but it also goes a lot deeper than that. I had bad parents, grew up in a single parent home, and I don't feel the need to rob or kill. Sure it's anecdotal but it just a small piece of evidence that some kids turn out fine with shitty parents.
- 9y ago

chmln 9y ago

Your ideas come from a great heart, but I think they're a bit idealistic. I have a very hard time imagining children voluntarily attending classes on "how to deal with their emotions and things like conflict resolution". You're also assuming that things you were interested in as a child (arcade) will be interesting to children now. None of these attack the root causes of crime, but rather try to deal with the symptoms. Which is great, but is not a solution.