>>They do not have specific neighborhoods here, so they go to the malls and college areas. I guess in some other cities up north they stay in their own areas. Areas where people who live in nice neighborhoods don't go. I guess that would be safer.
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>>http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3305482/
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>This part is hilarious:
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>Communities need to offer more after-school activities and jobs for teens to begin fixing the problem, gang experts said.
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>Makes me think of the boys clubs which were a place to buy drugs when I was a teen and still are today. Although, they do a good job of providing activities for kids, just not enough supervision or control. Not to mention, there are plenty of jobs available for teens, getting them to work is the problem. Where my daughter works, they go through about 5 or 6 employees a week because the teens start and then find out they have to work to get paid and don't like it so they just don't come back or miss days and then show up and expect to still have a job. In the majority of those cases, poor parenting in the pre-teen and early teen years led to that (IMHO).

I agree. I think that every parent has basic responsibilities regarding their children. Our girl is mature, has a great work ethic and understands that there are rewards for being responsible. She is happy, does well in sports, academics and is very creative with drama, art and writing. Those are great things to be, but as parents we take her safety very seriously.

This was a good example of how people think differently. On a recent visit to a dentist's office, her mom was told that there was a new policy that children cannot come back with the parent and she would have to stay in the lobby waiting area. The receptionist said, "We'll keep an eye out for her." That was not an option. Allowing someone who is working/distracted, and essentially a stranger, to have pseudo-charge of your child is just stupid to me.