Having nothing to do’: A lame excuse for gun violence among Philly youth

[lostinblue 1,989]

Having nothing to do’: A lame excuse for gun violence among Philly youth

Last Monday evening, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney attended and spoke at a “We Must Take a Stand” Gun Violence Reduction meeting in South Philadelphia.

The meeting was organized to help neighborhood residents find reasonable solutions to the increasing issue of gun violence among youths in South Philadelphia. It came a day after a double drive-by shooting that occurred early Sunday evening in Philadelphia’s Grays Ferry neighborhood that severely injured two male teens.

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In addressing the issue the mayor said that the lack of activity for kids is what makes them turn to gun violence. And that if kids had something to do, they wouldn’t turn to violence.

His solution to eliminating the violence and remedying many of the associated social issues was to renovate, refurbish, or rebuild recreation centers throughout the city, an endeavor estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Much of the funding would be coming from a tax on sodas.

While the mayor’s attempts at a solution are well intentioned, the idea that kids turn to gun violence simply because they have nothing else to do is a simple solution to a much more complex problem. And it’s extremely difficult for me to understand.

I grew up in a working class Philadelphia neighborhood in the 1930s and '40s. Other than a couple of city-owned ball fields covered in black cinders (that ripped our clothing and our flesh), back then, there were no fancy recreation centers, and very little that the city provided to keep us busy.

Yet we found our own “things to do,” and gun violence or any other kind of violence was the furthest things from our minds. The only shootings we saw were in the cowboy movies we might see at a neighborhood movie theater on a Saturday afternoon.

We had no “little league” baseball diamonds, no fancy swimming pools, no indoor basketball courts. Our ball fields were often simply empty lots, with large rocks serving as bases.

We primarily entertained ourselves with what are now fondly remembered as “street games.” They were played on the street — usually with a minimum of equipment, and generally with a great deal of enthusiasm.

All of these games were priceless treasures that were passed down from older children to younger children for generations

Games as simple as flipping wax-filled bottle caps across an obstacle course drawn with chalk in the middle of a street, and known as “dead box.”

Or “tag football” played without a real football, since none of us could afford one, and a newspaper rolled up and tightly bound with a string or rubber band serving as a worthy substitute.

Our basketball nets were usually discarded peach baskets from the local grocery store nailed to a wooden utility pole.

These games originated in a time when the streets were all but empty of automobiles, and money to buy expensive equipment didn’t exist.

It was a time when the era of organized youth sports with its fancy playing fields, colorful uniforms, expensive equipment, adult coaches and unlimited supervision was still far in the future.

They were the games kids played after school on fall and winter days, and all day long on the hot summer days when schools were closed.

Most of them were boys’ games, but occasionally girls could also be found playing them.

All of them were invented long before I was born, and most of them are still played in some of the city’s old neighborhoods.

Of all the street games having its roots in Philly, probably the best still known today is half-ball. The only equipment necessary to play it was an old wooden broom or mop handle (which serves as a bat) and a small rubber ball.

In the 1930s, '40s and '50s, when the game was at its peak, it was generally played with what was known as a pimple ball. Purchased for a nickel at almost any neighborhood candy store, the pimple ball was about the size of a tennis ball, but lighter and made of a thinner rubber. Its surface was dotted with small upraised circles known as pimples.

The pimple ball was also the ball of choice for all the other street games, such as “box ball,” “handball,” “wire ball,” “wall ball” and “step ball.” In an emergency, when the corner stores’ supply of pimple balls ran out, a tennis ball was substituted.

For half-ball, the balls were cut in half and pitched underhand, floating to a batter like miniature Frisbees.

Looking back at those days, it’s easy to appreciate the ingenuity and creativity of the youngsters in our old neighborhoods so many years ago.

With only a piece of chalk, a few bottle caps, a small rubber ball, an old broom handle, and a whole lot of imagination, they managed to create games that are still entertaining people today.

And best of all, without help from city officials, we usually managed to find our own things to do, and never dreamed of turning to violence.

To me, that was due in large measure to the healthier structure of our society at that time.

http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/life-style/local-feature/having-nothing-to-do-a-lame-excuse-for-gun-violence/article_d8fb0f12-e182-11e5-976a-7759c769d131.html

In addressing the issue the mayor said that the lack of activity for kids is what makes them turn to gun violence

That sums it up I am bored so lets go polar bear hunting or even shoot a few folks

.Liberals trying to fix a problem that has everything to do with character of the person rather on boredom .

[Expat1 971]

Those poor children just need some toys and a place to play (or dey kill yo crackah @$$ yo)

[ExPatty 502]

Nothing to do? I guess school doesn't count. And typical kid hobbies like sports, riding bikes, not gang banging are out as well?

Sometimes when I drive through the nastiest part of the city here, which is on the news all the time for shootings and stabbings, I see tons of young men standing around during the day doing nothing (unemployment is low, what the heck are they doing standing around?) but looking at me as I drive by, locking their eyes onto my face, basically saying "I'm a bad mother fer, I dare you to test me." Who taught them that? Never, ever seen anything like that in my life in smaller towns, or in healthy low-crime cities full of people. That's why they are into gun violence. Too much of the culture is about looking tough and being alpha.

[Expat1 971]

They are just children seeking attention

[Jacque67 7,328]

They are just children seeking attention

They should join VJ!!!

[Boiler 45,519]

Obama's babies

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Ever heard of Lubbock Texas? Seriously high crime. A lot of it happens before 500pm. Why? Kids get bored, no parental supervision and do stupid things before their parents come home. Every school should have an after school program that mandates students attends unless their parents prove they get off b4 500.

[Boiler 45,519]

Ever heard of Lubbock Texas? Seriously high crime. A lot of it happens before 500pm. Why? Kids get bored, no parental supervision and do stupid things before their parents come home. Every school should have an after school program that mandates students attends unless their parents prove they get off b4 500.

Nope

[Jacque67 7,328]

Nope

How about Cardiff on a Friday night?

[Boiler 45,519]

How about Cardiff on a Friday night?

Ohh yes,

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Nope

Nope what?

[ExPatty 502]

Ever heard of Lubbock Texas? Seriously high crime. A lot of it happens before 500pm. Why? Kids get bored, no parental supervision and do stupid things before their parents come home. Every school should have an after school program that mandates students attends unless their parents prove they get off b4 500.

Funny: the schools out here in the suburbs have no such mandate, nor any problems with violence at all. Kids just know better. Violence is not respected, it is ostracized.

[Expat1 971]

Ever heard of Lubbock Texas? Seriously high crime. A lot of it happens before 500pm. Why? Kids get bored, no parental supervision and do stupid things before their parents come home. Every school should have an after school program that mandates students attends unless their parents prove they get off b4 500.

My daughter goes to school up there.

[Boiler 45,519]

Funny: the schools out here in the suburbs have no such mandate, nor any problems with violence at all. Kids just know better. Violence is not respected, it is ostracized.

Wonder why?

[Expat1 971]

Wonder why?

They get more toys. And attention.