Pot times July 17, 2005
Street Basketball Games Are Havens For Drugs, Gang
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1124/a12.htmlNewshawk: Beth
Pubdate: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 STREET BASKETBALL GAMES ARE HAVENS FOR DRUGS, GANG VIOLENCE
Source: Peoria Journal Star (IL)
Copyright: 2005sPeoria Journal Star
Contact:
forum@pjstar.com
Website: http://pjstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/338
Author: Mary King
Re. July 11 editorial, "Keep city kids busy":
On the streets and playgrounds of the East Bluff, basketball games are loud,
rough, riddled with profanity and often end in violence. These games start
as early as 7 a.m. and end as late as 2 a.m. They are also the ideal
setting for drug deals and gang violence.
Glen Oak Elementary School placed permanent basketball hoops on the playground a
few years ago. After just one summer, they were removed for this very
reason.
Here are a couple of ideas:
Open school, church and park district gymnasiums with paid and volunteer
monitors. Keep the noise inside and control the activity. On the
outside there is too much noise and no control.
Police need to crack down on these kids. Whatever happened to disturbing
the peace? Issue more citations to the parents if their kids are caught
loitering in front of private property and bus stops. Modify the curfew
and then enforce it. Adopt a zero tolerance policy on these issues.
Stop the violence before it starts. Give control of the neighborhoods back
to the adults and take it away from the kids and teens.
Why are the parents of these kids not held accountable for their children's poor
behavior? It seems to me that everyone else but their parents is expected to
raise these kids.
Mary King
Peoria
