Kars for Kids has a unique approach

Oh no; this is the feeling that many parents feel when they hear it’s a snow day. My mother loved snow days. She would spend time with us kids. She genuinely enjoyed her time with us. We would have nice activities, play in the snow, drink hot cocoa, maybe do some baking – all in all just enjoy some family time. As kids we didn’t grow up with the plethora of video games, the internet, the type of entertainment that we have nowadays for our youth. Oh sure, we had some videos, even a few select video games which my mother carefully screened but we enjoyed spending time together as a family as well. My siblings and I enjoyed using our childish imaginations creating stories out of thin air, acting them out and just having a grand old time together.

Don’t think that everything was just dandy and a bowl of cherries. We definitely had our issues, our need for disciplinary action, consequences, and time out. We were after all normal and healthy kids. One thing though is that we were able to be just that, normal and healthy kids that tend to get themselves into trouble; the type of trouble a balanced kid gets into. I.e. sibling rivalry and the like.

When a snow day comes around today, when it comes to the weekends especially Friday and Saturday nights, there are many parents with worry written all over their faces. They wait with anxiety hoping their child will not be abused, use illegal substances, come home in one piece and not get involved in some sort of trouble with the authorities. These weekend nights are not those simple weekend nights to enjoy with family and friends in a healthy setting. Drinking, promiscuity, drug use, and other youth crimes are prevalent on these weekend nights.

Various cities have worked on getting this youth crime rate down. They worked on having structures which would hopefully decrease the trouble. In some instances parts of this worked. In some the crime was just displaced (not decreased) from one part of the city to another – From night to day.

These parents wish that their children would take it easy on their nervous wreck parents and just go back in time to those innocent playful times. Kars for Kids recognized this need both from the parents’ perspective and from an educator’s perspective. Kars for Kids initiated youth groups over the weekend in a fun, yet educational setting. The kids play sports, they learn a bit, and they play a bit. There’s some food and there are adult mentors there for support. They see that the weekend can be fun and safe, relaxing and educational. They come back to school on Monday with a refreshing feeling. The parents of these children go to sleep Saturday night calm and happy. Their children are being normal children. They’re having fun in a healthy setting. They’re not getting phone calls from the police in middle of the night.

These children who are part of these weekend youth programs are going on to graduate high school. It’s truly amazing to even consider that weekend youth groups along with other opportunities as well can actually have such an effect on young kids.