Re: Skate Park

["Lois Melina" <lmelina@moscow.com>]

I'm unclear as to why people are trying to convince Kacey to go to the
skate park if he feels it's not a suitable environment for him. He came to
this forum, largely made up of adults, not to debate the merits of the
skate park, but to ask for assistance in finding places where teens could
go in Moscow that felt safe and fun. Are we being supportive of him and
providing him with some answers to his question, or are we saying in a
variety of ways, "Your opinion is wrong, Kacey." Isn't this why teens
seldom turn to adults as resources--because we frequently respond with our
own agenda rather than responding to the teens' and then tell them they're
wrong because they don't think like we do?

How about we just take in the information Kacey is giving us about the
skate park, add it to information we have from other sources, and let him
know our ideas about other places to go:

--ice rink
--UI pool
--Hamilton-Lowe pool in the summer
--a video or board game at your house or the house of a friend with a
responsible adult supervising
--a bike ride on the Chipman Trail or on Moscow Mountain
--frisbee at the park

--It's also fun to be in service to others. This Saturday there will be a
clean-up of Paradise Creek--a good opportunity to get wet, stomp in the
mud, and make your community a better place. Teens are welcome. Check at
Good Samaritan and Latah Care Center--sometimes they have people there who
just want someone to work a puzzle with them or play checkers. 

Lois Melina