Safety/5th Quarter Asset of the Week

The churches in this community recently pulled off a minor miracle. In an impressive display, the churches making up the Faith in Action Committee worked together to organize The 5^th Quarter following the September 10^th Hornet football game. They provided free food and drinks, and offered music, flag football and volleyball games in a safe environment with adult supervision. It was a great example of churches getting “outside” their walls to serve the people of the community.

The Committee publicized the event through the local press, but more, the committee turned a lot of the responsibility over to the youth to tell their friends and get the word out about the event, and it worked. By the time the athletes, band and Grenadier Guards showed up, about 500 youth came and went from the event. More than anything, this event proved that local youth are looking for a safe place to have a good time with their friends.

One of the developmental assets we need to build to create a healthy community for our kids is Safety, and the 5^th Quarter event was a great example of providing a safe place. One of the most important factors in providing a safe place is adult supervision, so I thank all of the adults who spent their late night hours last weekend supervising the youth of our community.

However, it does not take a large scale event to provide safe places. Individual groups can build a safe community for our kids by offering smaller events or just spending time with groups of kids when they might otherwise be left alone. Parents can build this asset by knowing where their kids are and who they are with.

I remember being scared to do anything wrong in my neighborhood because I was afraid that my neighbors would call my parents. We can all help build a safe place for our children by getting to know the kids in our neighborhoods and throughout our community, watching out for them, and then keeping them accountable when necessary.

09.19.04