http://www.northfloridanewsdaily.com/News/2008/0811/opinion/150.html


opinions on this one guys.

If a bowling alley came up for a vote to fund with public money, I wouldn't vote for it. But, I would suggest to the zoning board or Communiy Development Committee that they layout a section on land where one could be built.

Bowling alleys are NOT baby sitting buildings, but, in some communities around here, that's what they are. We had a new Brunswick Family Center open in November, with indoor game rooms, bumper cars, laser tag, and outside mini golf and batting cages. It is not uncommon to see cars pull up on Saturday mornings, and just drop a bunch of kids off. They probably stay there for the day. This is a day care center.

It is a shame that parents don't take responsibility for their children in many cases today. Children should not be hanging out in parking lots or bowling alleys. Where is their parental control? Especially, school aged kids. Don't they have curfews for kids? Doesn't the school give homework? Don't kids have part time jobs?

This town is in sad shape, and the kids are even sadder. I blame the parents, and don't think town should be responsible to fund what a parent should be doing.

Maybe the parents should be ticketed for their kids loitering.

I would vote for bowling alley. I actually accredit youth league for keeping me on straight and narrow. I never got involved with the "wrong crowd". I bowled youth league through high school. When i was not bowling league i was at bowling alley volunteering helping set up bumpers for bumpers leagues or at the front desk spraying rental shoes.

However, my parents were main cause i stayed in school and attended college and graduated with a degree. They were involved in my life from what ever i wanted to do. From little leagues to bowling leagues.

To be honest, I don't see it that way. So many teens get into trouble because there is nothing to do. If they don't have anything fun to do, I guarantee they will find something fun to do and that something will not be legal.

I used to be a kid and remember how bored I was, because there wasn't anything to do. And I got into trouble because of it. If there were more bowling alleys I probably wouldn't have gotten in as much trouble as I did.

Interesting article to say the least. Here's my opinion as a teacher. I do believe that there needs to be more of a focus of education for the youth, but that's where I end my agreement with him. First of all, I do believe that a bowling alley, etc. is not a bad idea, as long as it does not become another loitering hangout like the ones described in the article. Secondly, the comments that he makes show that he has no idea about what needs to be done in our educational system to make students/young people more responsible.



Wow, how creative, textbooks, never heard that one before. Many better uses for money in schools (at least at the high school level) besides textbooks. If he thinks the textbook leaves the locker and ends up at home for studying, he's living in 1978, not 2008. I've overheard many a student comment that they never took a textbook out of their locker for the whole year.



College, even more creative than textbooks. This ones burns me big time, I'm pretty tired of hearing that college is the greatest thing for every single student who is graduating form high school. Bottom line, college is not for every student who graduates from high school. Good opinion article on the topic.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/...n1.465abff.html

Money would be better spent in programs that will help students discover what they want to do in a career, not just try to shove everyone into college. I will never understand why so many people in education think that becoming a tradesman instead of going to college somehow makes you less of a person.

Money could also be used in programs that help teach responsibility, respect, hard work, and discipline at a young age, when it needs to be learned. Schools seem to be too much on the hurting self-esteem concept to actually do this. Also, if he wants the parents to focus on something, this is what they should be focused on. In the long run, that works much better than trying to push underachieving high school students into college.

Mark

I agree with the original article some. More money does need to the allotted to schools, but this still doesn't do anything for keeping them out of trouble. First the parents need to do more, and be held more responsible.

Outside parents taking responsibility and if public funds are going to be used a bowling center, ice rink or theaters aren't the answer. Something more like a community center or something like a Boys and Girls Club of America would be more suitable. Something that is one dimensional just limits things. When I lived in Detroit I within in a few miles to a huge one. It was great, multiple activities, sports, and plenty of others of the same age to hang with. My older sister and brother and I would be there often. Unfortunately the only one I ever found in Baltimore was terrible, with hardly anyone there and a small building. Something like that would give the youth something to do.

I also agree with Mark that college isn't for everyone, nor some of the jobs you are suppose to get when you get out of college. I for one like a job that's a little more labor intensive, hence me being in construction. Most the the youth of today look at being a tradesman as lowly and not respectable, but that's because wages aren't as good as they should be.

Apparently the writer of that article has no idea about USBC and its youth league and scholarship program. No other sport gives away schorlarship starting at such young ages. At least none that I know of. The writer does not know about USBCs Registered Volunteer Program that includes background checks on those personel that regular come in contact with youth bowlers.

Does this writer want the kids to study and work their entire lives? I remember studying hard sure. And certainly schools and education need continual monetary support. But there was not a lot to do in our small town except go to the beach. Which we did on a regular basis. And in the winter we sledded and ice skated.....not indoors mind you but out on local ponds and cranberry bogs. Now a days its harder to find things for kids to do and still keep them safe. Getting them out of the house away from the TV, internet and video games is tough and expensive. I know bowling is not terribly physical, but its something. Keep in mind that due to today's environment for latchkey kids that are penned up indoors all week, the bowling center or skating parlor on the weekends is a welcomed break to at least move around a bit. Most"Entertainment" centers offer not only bowling but many have batting cages and climbing walls. All good physical stuff for kids to do.

Erin

I would think in this day and age we could have articles without advertisements for olive garden being smashed up so close to the words that I could hardly read them.

Past that, bowling centers should never be built with public funds, or used as unsupervised daycare centers.

i never went to college and i make good money now. love what you can do for me toyota. but heck i have had some ruff jobs in the past and have worked hard to get where i'm at. i graduated high school is about it. i've been working since 16 and never got to look back at what i missed. i don't have time. i work in the auto business. i help make engines that goes in the tundra trucks that toyota makes. college wold have been something that i would have liked to have done but never got to. so be it i guess. i like my trade and thats cool to me. so i agree with you inferno on that.

yup bowling centers should'nt be built with public funds. i wish there would be something else for kids and teens. i didn't have places to go, but i lived in the middle of nowhere when i was growing up. i mean nowhere. the closest town was 30 mins away. i live in god's country. nothing else around but family. and cows.
so i played out side all day and at night i played video games. but i stayed out till dark or so everyday. tv has hardly been in my life. i do like some of the stuff on now or days. but i still have it off most of the time. but all i do is work so i dont get a chance to watch it much. maybe 5 hours a week. never can tell maybe less or more sometimes.

people need to help kids and teens. the bowling alley in florence is over run with teens and its packed on the weekends. they just hang around. some bowl most don't. still there isn't much for them to do. mall movies bowl. thats about it. somebody needs to help but noone cares. sad

Boy fury, get your time in while you can. You are still young. I have a partner that worked for Nummi putting in engines, gas tanks etc.....for years. One back injury got him layed off with no discussion of ever coming back. His son ( only got the job due to his dad) is now at Nummi since 1991, and he's slightly over your age. He's counting his time too. Get in and get out....20 years if you can make it. Love your job to be sure, but never count on it. And while you have found a niche that didn't require a college degree and higher education, and yet able to make a good living, you are in the minority.

Kids need places to go which engage them in activities beyond the home and school. They do need places to socialize if it can be done within reason. If a bowling center or "Entertainment" center provides that then all the better. I think public money is spent on way too many things of much less social value then that. These days kids don't play outside until dark like they did in my day. Parents are not home and the social environment is more dangerous then it was.

Do girls still go to the malls? I mean in my day that was just starting to be the thing. Go out to the mall and hang out. Parents used to drop their girls off a the malls all day. I'd much rather see kids and teens in a compound that provided games and activities for them vs. walking around, eating and shopping (or shop lifting).

Erin

now thats cool. we build the engines that go to nummi. i ship them really. auto is hard to be in. things take a dive at anytime. we've been lucky to still be running.

i think teens still go to the mall. but its just to hang out. i don't go there anymore. i don't like the stuff they have there. but the malls here stink. there not that good anymore.

It's strange, but in retrospect, the bowling alley, skating rink, and theater were places I went as a youth. Bowling alley more than the others. As well as, parks, and gyms and the Chicago Lakefront. But, we didn't hang around in the parking lots. We actually bowled, skated, played baseball, football, basketball, learned to box, and fished when we went there. And, when we were done, we went home for dinner, or to do homework.

Kids today, just hang around, as he said in parking lots, and nothing good can come from that. We used to have a law when I grew up that no more than 4 people could be together, and not doing something. The Police would look for groups of loiterers and break up the congregation.

Today, skating rinks are a thing of the past. Gyms and parks are empty. The movie theater costs money. So, kids just hang out, with nothing to do. I still blame the parents for not instilling in their children the value of education, or even just reading a book. The internet, to some respect, occupies their attention. But, they have little chance to develop socially sitting in a room. And, you hear too many horror stories of who kids meet on the internet anyway.

It is a shame, but the family, as a unit, is disappearing. Families don't know what to do together. I have to ask, why have children, if you don't intend to raise them?

Maybe, this will take care of itself. I recently listened to a two hour radio talk program that factually explained that the world population has been declining since 1980. In fact, in most industrialized countries, more people are dying than are being born, reducing the total population.

Some interesting factors were:
34% of children born in this Country are born outside of wedlock. So, there is NO family. And, the number of offspring tends to be 1.
Children from broken homes or from single parents tend to have fewer children.
The trend to cohabitation rather than marriage is producing fewer children.
The advanced age that people are marrying yields fewer children do to the physical non-productive age of the parents.
Careers of women, cause them to bear children later and in fewer numbers.
And, the decline of Faith in the family is directly correlated to the number of children in a family, though not a causal relationship.

So, as bowling alleys are closing, there may not be any kids to hang out there anyway.

In fact, the interviewer sited television programs as an example. 20+ years ago the top programs were "The Waltons", "Brady Bunch" and "8 is enough". Programs with plenty of kids. Today, it is hard to find a program that has a family, and one with more than 2 kids.

BTW, the average number of children to child-bearing women in this Country has fallen from 2.6 to 2.1. Spain is 1.1. China is 1.1. And, Italy is 1.2. The Country of Russia will lose a net of 40 million people by the year 2050.

I was an odd kid (I am still odd but that is a completely different story). I never really hung out in town or at the mall. I was always at some sort of sport practice from when I was 6 until I got out of HS. Wrestling, baseball, football, karate, Track, and bowling. During the summertime starting when I was 10, I was working for farmers who lived near me. I started my first job not for a farmer the day after I turned 16. The only place I ever actually hung out at was the bowling alley. The main reason for that is my mom worked there. The owner liked me and used to bowl professionally. He would get a new ball and let me use it. He would "work" on a lane and then let me bowl on it to make sure that it was functioning okay. When my mom ran the junior leagues, it was a mess when she took over. Parents would drop their kids off at the door and then wait outside in their car for their kids to come out. Sometimes, the parents would leave them there and when everyone would be done, there would be kids sitting there. By the time she quit (when I went off to college), there were parents watching every week and then bowling with their kids afterward.

I hate to point the finger, but a lot of the blame is on the parents. When parents use malls and bowling alleys as day cares, only trouble can come.

Our center also seems to be a drop off for seniors too. We have a couple that do not bowl, but you can find them there all day every day. Very sad.

Dropped off?

My first two YABA years my parents made me lug my ball a mile each way. These kids today!

My Government and Politics professor used to say, "Economic Development is the best contraceptive." There is a causal relationship between GDP and birth rate.

i wonder this a lot here lately. i have a child. she's only 2. i would do anything for her. but i have to raise her too. the right way. she's not going to be like me. i wont stand for it. its the one thing that makes me raise her. she wont be me. i see parents all the time just let there kids go. don't take an interest in anything they do. i hear this at work. people say" my kid always wants me to do something but i just tell them to go to there room." why did you have them if you dont want them.? i play with mine. i can't wait to see her when i get home. she follows me everywhere when i get home. and i love it. she's so much fun. my wife has fits when she sees a parent that want take an interest in there kid. she's just like me always playing. so some people just dont need to reproduce and some do. but try to take an interest in what your kid is doing. no matter what the age. bowl, movies, go out to eat, go to the park like we do, mall and football games. how hard is it.?

Apparently pretty hard for some. I'm glad to see both my brother and sister taking an interest in their kids, unlike so many others. My brother has four boys, the oldest is 16 in a month followed by a 13 year old, and a 10 year old and anchored by a 7 year old in a few days over a month(man their ages make me feel old). They all play baseball or soccer and he is had every game he can, sometimes he is a coach for one of the teams.

thats the people who love kids. ones that will get in there with them. thats what it's all about. i've seen people not care what there kids do and just work as much as possible just to avoid it. i worked a lot in the past years at toyota. but i didn't have a kid till up to 2 years ago. now i think different about how much i work. if i get 40 hours i'm good if i 43 i'm cool any more than that takes family time away for me. plus wife works. so yeah i'm big into family time. i use to put 55 to 60 hours a week in before my kid. now 40's good more time to play. thats why i never get to bowl more than 2 days a week too. sunday league and may be saturday. if i'm lucky

I guess this shows we've come full cycle. Can't wait to get there. Bowling all day, yeah!!! Every day!!!

There are plenty of Senior Communities here. And, one of the prime activities is bowling. They don't hang around. But, the Community bus brings them and picks them up. It's the same for Bingo.

Some daytime Senior leagues here are larger than the regular night leagues.

We have an older (1950 date) House with 12 wooden lanes near here. It's in a faming community. Well, needless to say, times have been rough for the House. But, a few years ago, a retirement Community was built near there. It is up to 2000 units, and has more residents than the original town.

I spoke with Donnie, the son of the original owner, who now owns it, last April. He said he now has more daytime leagues for Seniors than he has night time leagues. What a boon for him.

Many of our senior leagues are like that. In fact 38% of our entire sanctioning body are "seniors". Just our center alone has a senior scratch 610 trios, and two sanctioned day leagues that use the entire 32 lane house. Plus a 9 pin no tap senior league on Friday that fills the house.

But just as we were talking about the centers being babysitting fascilities for kids, seems some adult children are also using it for their senior folks.

Erin

At my Center we have Sensior league Monday thru Friday usually at 1pm. There usually big leagues taking majority of the center. One of my former team mates bowl in one on thursday. They get free lottery drawings, 10 free games a month, monthly birthday cakes, free coffee, and free shirts.

I also remember when i was junior i helped volunteer for bumper leagues parents use those to drop off there kids for about 1 hour and come back and pick them up. I remember seeing kids there and there parents were no where to be found until around the last game they bowled two games.