Response to a Classmate's blog

I was reading through various blogs and there were a couple that caught my eye, but Cesar's in particular. He talked about 47th street and some of the kids around there:

"These kids just go to school to gangbang and deal drugs not even paying attention to school or caring about graduation. I think it would be best if Mayor Daley would implement some sort of program to help out these kids becuase the YMCA isn't doing a good job. Some sort of an after school program should help out the kids, something along the lines of anti-gang violence."

This caught my eye because it's something that I've been saying for the longest time. I am a strong advocate for after-school programs for kids. I was mad when they tore down the Boys & Girls Club that used to be at Taylor and Racine (it's been torn down for almost 5 years now). And then when they were doing the rehabilitation of that entire neighborhood, I was saying that they should turn the old school that's on Ada just off of Taylor, they should turn that into a new Boys & Girls Club. For the most part, though, my views really solidified when some kids from Galileo Math & Science Academy pulled a knife on myself and some friends in the park behind their school (Sheridan Park). There's nothing for them to do, so they harass other people in the neighborhood. I've watched various video documentaries and read multiple books about kids who grew up in the projects and all of them had one thing in common: their Boys & Girls Club was their escape. There was someone there was someone there who was a mentor to them and helped them keep their priorities straight. And here you have a first-hand account of someone who went to school in a neighborhood that lacked an after-school program. I have always thought that after-school programs were a necessity, but maybe that's because I grew up in my mom's after-school daycare, which was just as good as a Boys & Girls Club with our snack time and homework time. Something along those lines is what the city needs--everywhere. It's not enough to have just a few placed here and there. It really isn't. Mayor Daley does need to step in and help the situation by making more after-school programs. And that means more funding for the schools so they can afford to pay people to stay. It all comes down to funding. So, Mayor Daley, is that was these taxes are for??