Migraines and Essays...okay?

I have a migraine in my brain and its jumping up and down on my membrane causing me severe pain and its definetly breaking up my mindframe.... I hope the these Tylenols weren't taken in vain. I lay here, and I feel fear that my braincells won't be strong enough to get me out of here, and when I say "here", I mean my college career. I do hear, alot of loose lips telling me that I ain't spit, but I think this intro to some new sh*t will have them quiet in the pulpit. So here it is, the real biz---ness. I've been working on my literary, fit--ness. Can you dig this? I can, and my pen did, and my hand did, and probably my non-existant kids did. So read this, with an open mind, if you have time, but if you don't, atleast you read this short rhyme. Adios amigo, until the next lines.

My Civic Discourse Paper

Why does the general population of adults not understand that if the younger generation is not properly taught equally and fairly that the productivity of the world will not be prosperous? While various topics are brought up and addressed, funding for education is continually being cut. Why is something such as education and public facilities for youth not getting top priority? Children are pushed to do better in school and in their community, but their communities and schools do not have the resources. This is the dilemma that we face and this is the topic that I personally feel should be at the forefront of lawmakers and any cities minds. Now granted it is ultimately up to the child to choose the path of education and productivity, but if the extra push is not there at all, this will no doubt affect their progress. The lack of resources within education and youth centers is a nationwide problem, however being a Virginia Beach, Virginia resident I want to focus on my hometown.

By studying the problems and issues and maybe even exploring some solutions right here in my city, I can maybe see if there is a pattern in the education system throughout America. My specific focus is the areas that span between Newtown road and Virginia Beach blvd. and Independence blvd. and Virginia Beach blvd. The major neighborhoods of Lake Edwards, Bayside arms, Newpoint, Aragona, Campus East, Wesleyan and Northridge have a large child and student population. You would think that due to this large population of young people that there would be recreational center and reliable transportation nearby.

Sadly there is not, by car the bayside recreational (the closest recreational center to these neighborhoods is about ten-twenty minutes away. However, not all children can get a ride to the recreational center by car. If someone wanted to walk from one of these neighborhoods it would take no less than an hour to two hours to get there. Even if the bus were used as transportation, it would take approximately forty-five minutes to an hour.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the issues of not having an accessible public youth facility near these major areas. There are even more problems that warrant the immediate building of a youth center/recreational center that can be used by the public and geared towards the children of those areas. I have personal experience with these neighborhoods and recognize how important a youth center would be.

I was born July 17th, 1990, and today is Mar 6 2010. I have lived in the neighborhood of Aragona Village for almost 16 years now. In all my years the only recreational areas for my friends and I was a small mall about 15 minutes away and the local basketball court. With nothing much to do many of my friends resorted to unconstructive activities, such as smoking marijuana and involving themselves in gang activity. Though my neighborhood has always been a quiet suburbia we have always been influenced by the outlying neighborhoods of Bayside Arms and Lake Edwards. I did my best to stay away from the monotony of the neighborhood and the negative aspects of it by staying inside, but what young child wants to stay inside all the time with nothing to do? When I got older and went to the higher grades, I discovered as a young teen the effects of not having a recreational facility anywhere in the vicinity. When I first started high school at Bayside (the school I was zoned too), there was a large amount of gang activity that was erupting between Lake Edwards and Bayside arms and it was trickling over to the other neighborhoods. My school became the place for constant fights and random violence within the school, football games and any type of school event. I began to wonder why this was. I soon figured that this negative energy had came from minds who had no outlet for their frustrations from home and could only turn to causing problems and roaming the streets. According to the book “Youth Gangs: Programs and Strategies. OJJDP Summary”, one of the biggest reasons teens and youth join is the need for excitement. (Howell) In the case of Lake Edwards and other areas surrounding it, that can be a huge problem when there is not much constructive activity as a young teen. The city needs to focus on these youth that are growing up in these neighborhoods, because they have the potential to help or harm the community. There has been a proposal to the civic council for a Recreational center on Newtown road recently, but there are many that are skeptic that it will fit into the budget or reach top priority. (Applegate) Just recently the Virginia Pilot wrote an article about the cities plan to build an eleven million dollar animal shelter; Eleven million dollars is quite a lot of money for an animal shelter when there are children that don’t even have playgrounds or a park in their neighborhood. (Findarticles.com) why are the tax dollars that the city is getting from its residents going towards something that will not benefit the community at all? Is the city favoring the wealthy citizens of Virginia Beach and ignoring the poor? Crime should not be a topic that is hushed up about; it should be at the forefront, because crime causes quite a few economic problems, including property values being lowered. I called the Virginia Beach police department, and I found that there have been over three hundred crimes committed in the North side of Lake Edwards in the last year alone. This reputation of crime will lower property values and decrease revenue to Virginia Beach as a whole. The reputation of Lake Edwards and Bayside Arms became so bad that the names were changed recently so not to scare potential homeowners away. I think the high crime rate in the Lake Edwards area is cause for some type of attention to the community development of Lake Edwards. There should be without a doubt a place where a child can feel like they have a safe haven amid so much crime. If this haven is not created, the youth will be immersed into the very crime of a neighborhood such as Lake Edwards. Now I have spoken about a few different points, however my main point is that there has to be a recreational area that is near enough for the neighborhood of Lake Edwards and the surrounding areas to go to. It is a disservice to the city and the citizens of Virginia Beach, to sweep a problem of this magnitude under the rug. There is no way that tax dollars should be spent anywhere else until we have an equal amount of facilities all across Virginia Beach. This may sound farfetched, but it is a goal that can be achieved. If we do not help the youth within these communities and give them more of a playground then just the hard asphalt streets, we will be failing the city as a whole. The city and its inhabitants have an obligation to create a safe environment for the children that live in these areas. That is my stand and it is a position that I will stand firm for until I see immediate change.