City of Detroit and DPS announce joint school rec center pilot program.

[brizee]

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in..._become_f.html

I have wondered why this hasn't been a thing for years.

When I was an intern on a project doing condition assessment for the Ann Arbor Public School buildings this was happening all the way back in 2009.

[ABetterDetroit]

It is great to see more youth rec opportunities get running this summer in the city. This is important work that needs to be done.

When I was a kid organized athletics were part of what kept us busy and out of trouble. The advantages were immeasurable, we played more pickup games because of the organized activity. More mentors that weren't just teachers but adults who shared a love of sport or recreation. It also started endless conversations about college athletics that helped apply peer pressure on positive things like to desire a college education for not only academic reasons but for some of the fun and exciting experiences that can be had at universities around extra curricular activities.

[Shai_Hulud]

They need this bad. A lot of city kids have absolutely no safe place to go outside the home if they don't have bus fare and money to nurse a slushie at the mall.

[ABetterDetroit]

It is also money well spent that has a enormous upside. 625k is chump change. If this program turns one kids life 180 degrees it's a winner.

The cost of the program is the equivalent of putting ONE person in prison for 20 years. If half a dozen get on a new path it saves the tax payers of this state MILLIONS.

I never understand why fiscal conservatives do not embrace these kinds of programs for youth. The more constructive things that can be introduced into a child's life that lives in poverty the higher the chance that society will not be burdened by the cost of the continuation of poverty for a entire life time and the future generations.

[Zacha341]

Precisely! This option is money well spent in comparison.

The cost of the program is the equivalent of putting ONE person in prison for 20 years. If half a dozen get on a new path it saves the tax payers of this state MILLIONS....