A Cry For Help

An article in the New York Times today caught my eye about flash mobs.  Ever hear of them?  They're mobs of teens who get together in unspecified locations and at unspecified times based on text messages and other forms of rapid, mass communication.  Sounds kinda cool, doesn't it?  But, sadly, they're not calling these Flash Get-Togethers or Flash Social Events.  They're mobs, and they're acting like them.  Read the article, see the pictures.  These mobs are not filled with happy kids hoping to exchange advice or talk about the latest books they've read.  These kids are TICKED OFF.

Adults can talk all they want, plead all they want, and set up curfews all they want.  But unless we adults see the message, see past the violence and look to the root cause, this anger will just go somewhere else.

Ask the kids why they do it.  See what they say.

The article talks about mobs of kids running through a Macy's.  Of a game called "catch and wreck".  Violence and anger directed at those with more and those with less.  Why at those with less?  Why beat on homeless people and take their money?  Because they can, and they need to feel that power.

I'm not condoning what they're doing, not in the least bit.  But I'm not condoning the actions of the adults either, which is to shut these kids up and keep them in the homes they clearly don't want to be in to begin with.

I think it's time we all took action.  I think it's time we show that we care and that we've heard.

Here's what I agree with the most, a quote from the article:

"Clay Yeager, a juvenile justice consultant and former director of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in Pennsylvania, said he believed the flash mobs were partly a result of a decline in state money for youth violence prevention programs.

Financing for the programs has dropped 93 percent to $1.2 million in this year’s budget compared with $16 million in 2002. City financing for such programs has dropped to $1.9 million in the past three years compared with $4.1 million from 1999 through 2002, a 53 percent drop."

This clearly shows that we're just not paying attention to the kids and helping them vent their anger in other ways.

So here's what I'm proposing.  I'm going to start a charity (somehow) called "PEOPLE WHO GIVE A BUCK."  And all I'm going to ask from every man, woman AND child I can is for them to donate $1.  That's it.  $1 to restore the programs that have been taken away from these kids.  There's 1.4M people in Philly alone - if we get a quarter of that we'd get $350k.  More importantly, though, we'd show these kids that we've heard them, and that we're taking steps to make their life better.  

My goal is to get to $1M.  That's a lot of money, and at $1 each that's a lot of people.  But the money is secondary to the show of support.

I have no idea what I'm doing, or how to get started, so if you have any clues, please send them along.  I'll do whatever I can to investigate this on my own, but I need your help!  Send along any tips, advice, starting points, contacts, whatever you can.  

Let's show the kids that we DO give a buck.