The Vent - Part Trois

[Sam and Ben 2]

Psst.

Congratulate him on his win on Sunday, that'll make him stop... honest!

@Sam

Maybe your Easter basket will have a tazer in. I hear they are most helpful with pesky relatives.

Scooter, I can entirely relate. Back home, my company worked with the owner of the local movie theater and we worked to put together a safe, friendly game center where kids could play arcade games, video games, the works. We did it all legit - kids had to show school ID for age, etc in order to play age-appropriate games, or have a parent sign off (with a contact number) on a form that allowed them to play other games. We didn't allow drugs in the facility, we didn't allow the kids to swear at each other or the staff. In my opinion, it was an awesome place, because, as a young kid/teen, I would've loved to go there, and my parents would've been happy with it.

Well, some twentysomething guy and his buddies decided that their younger siblings should obviously be able to do whatever they want in a building they're paying to frequent, decided he could "do it up right" (which was told to us repeatedly by our customers), and opened a dingy little game place in the basement of another business. They used computers that I would be embarrassed to have running as a dump machine at home, their own used consoles, and bean bag or fold out chairs for seating. Within a month of opening, we heard nothing but stories of the afterschool fights, drug activity, and how busy they were each and every day while we were struggling. The pats on the back from the parents didn't really help when their kids kept talking about the place they'd rather be.

It's hard in small communities, like everyone else said, where everyone thinks they can do it better. Of course, they're always the ones to wait until someone does it first, so they can feed off the good and not have to worry about the parent committees, school boards, etc harassing them about the proper way to go about doing things, because that's already in place in your facility.

I wish you luck.. It sounds like you're trying to do a real good thing for those kids who need structure, need a safe place to be and enjoy themselves, and also learn how to act within the rules set out. It's a good thing, and I hope you find a way to curb the negativity of this other place opening.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

In the summers that I turned nine and ten, I was a daily participant in a "Kids Klub" youth center in Salmon Arm...and it was such a benefit to me! There would be general activities etc., but one of the things that really set it apart was that it had field trips -- legitimate, honest-to-goodness field trips! It was awesome going for day-trips to the beach, or up hiking in Larch Hills...some of them were educational or informative... It was interesting enough so that the kids who were there WANTED to be there. There were some days where we'd just get together and play some of the arcade games or the Nintendo...board games, table tennis, pool etc. that the building had...but the key was that it had just enough stuff to keep kids coming back.

I wasn't an "at-risk" youth or anything, but some of the kids surely were. I guess what I'm saying is that maybe Scooter can look into diversifying what they offer a bit...give kids that much more incentive. Ultimately the overriding desire is that the kids there are safe and staying out of trouble. Finding things other than drugs or hooliganism to engage them is what will keep them coming back.

[ScooterMac 2]

I wasn't an "at-risk" youth or anything, but some of the kids surely were. I guess what I'm saying is that maybe Scooter can look into diversifying what they offer a bit...give kids that much more incentive. Ultimately the overriding desire is that the kids there are safe and staying out of trouble. Finding things other than drugs or hooliganism to engage them is what will keep them coming back.

Right now, we have 2 PS2 systems and a decent amount of games, a projector and built-in movie screen to watch movies, 5 computers online (working on 6 and 7 as we speak), pool tables, ping pong tables, foosball tables, an air hockey table, weight and exercise equipment, books, board games, puzzles, and free food. We had an xbox 360, but one of the kids knocked it off the TV and now it isn't working....we also have a pinball game (free), but it's broken as well. We try to do field trips, but we've wound up cancelling every trip we've planned - we get maybe 1-3 kids who bring in money/permission slips for outside events. Most of the kids say they can't afford to go on the trips (including a $6 fee for all-day tubing). We have equipment to have a photography club, which the kids really want, but don't have an adult to take the kids out to take pictures (I can't be in the center and with that group at the same time, and I can't let them leave with our equipment without an adult). We've also had programs offered by the girl scouts for the middle schoolers, but again, no adults to help supervise (they have a required adult to student ratio, which we don't even come close to meeting). We do community service activities (when I have enough adults to supervise), and we have homework help for the kids who are struggling. Spoom is working on a program to help the older teens get ready to interview and look for work - we're working with students who are stuck in generational proverty...no one to tell them to wear nice clothes to the interview, and that the correct answer to "Why do you want to work here" isn't "cuz I need money, dude."

I'd like to get some new/other stuff in the building, but we run on.....well, we'd make a shoestring budget look excessive. I don't have any cash on hand to buy/replace/repair stuff (I have about 12 broken pool sticks, and could repair probably 10 if I had the money to do it).

It's a balancing act.....a really, really difficult one, some days!

Edited March 2, 2010 by ScooterMac

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Man, that really does suck, Scooter. Geez...that sounds like a center *I* want to drop into! Sign me up for the all day tubing... Well...when the weather gets a little warmer at least. Susquehanna, here I come!

[darkchilde794 5]

Speaking of kids, all but one of my 25 of my lab kids came to class not reading the pre-lab materials at all. I knew it was going to be a long bad class and they asked me how to make a 0.1 M HCl when the goddamn solution, contained in a bottle neatly labelled "0.1 M HCl" was in front of them. God, this morning was brutal.

Oh and a student of mine sent me an email saying that he cant come to class because his car got broken into, and the thieves surprisingly stole his book. The book, mind you, cost 10 bucks.

Edited March 2, 2010 by darkchilde794

[OBX 51]

Oh and a student of mine sent me an email saying that he cant come to class because his car got broken into, and the thieves surprisingly stole his book. The book, mind you, cost 10 bucks.

Is this today's version of "The dog ate my homework!"

[ScooterMac 2]

Is this today's version of "The dog ate my homework!"

Except the book is available at the library, likely I bought maybe 10 books during college, borrowed the rest from our library or from classmates who'd taken the course before me.

Also, cars with broken windows still run enough to get you to class! And since (presumably) all the valuables in the car, along with the book, got stolen...there shouldn't be any concern about leaving it out with a broken window!

[The_Dude 1,142]

Except the book is available at the library, likely I bought maybe 10 books during college, borrowed the rest from our library or from classmates who'd taken the course before me.

Also, cars with broken windows still run enough to get you to class! And since (presumably) all the valuables in the car, along with the book, got stolen...there shouldn't be any concern about leaving it out with a broken window!

When I was in university, my books would run me about $350-$500 per semester. After my freshman year, I learned that you can buy the books, take them to a copy store and have them copied for about $10 each, then return the books for a full refund.

[darkchilde794 5]

Unfortunately friends, the book he is talking about is this Bio manual that is essentially made for this college and cost 10 dollars in the bookstore. And he doesnt even need the book to study because its all online as well.

[Sprailenes 47]

I like how the thieves stole the book.. I mean what thief steals textbooks??

An ambitious one perhaps??

[KnJ 0]

why are you still on that visa journey site [now that you turned in aos]?

[Danu 19]

why are you still on that visa journey site [now that you turned in aos]?

For giggles right?

[The_Dude 1,142]

I like how the thieves stole the book.. I mean what thief steals textbooks??

An ambitious one perhaps??

People used to do it at my university because at the end of the semester, there would be these kiosks around campus where you could sell your books back. They never verified that you were in the course that you were selling the book back, nor did they swipe your card to log which students were selling which books back, they just wanted to see your school ID to verify that you were a student.

[KnJ 0]

For giggles right?

yeah!

that, and it's winter and i rarely leave the house :blob:

[darkchilde794 5]

I like how the thieves stole the book.. I mean what thief steals textbooks??

An ambitious one perhaps??

I bet it's one of his classmates. Im gonna ask tomorrow in class.

And these bio books are not actual text books, they are more like hand outs bound together as books. They really have no monetary value, and cannot be sold again. Last week I had a student tell me that he didnt come to class because he missed the bus. Granted, transit is hard in Maryland, but really???

Edit: And I really dont give a ratsa$$ if they come to class or not. When I was in university, there were days when I just didnt make it to school for reasons as pathetic as my tv show was on. But to not come to class and then expect ME to tutor them personally, on MY own time, is just bullcrap

Edited March 3, 2010 by darkchilde794