The Washington Informer



	Editorial Editorial Archives Friday, March 18, 2005; Page 20 A Lesson Learned from Last Summer The District is taking a bold step in ensuring that problems faced last year with summer youth employment will not be faced again. A recent measure was passed that will almost double the number of summer jobs made available to District youth (from 6,450 jobs to 10,000). This will leave a heavy burden on the city as it will have to come up with an additional $5.2 million dollars to fund the program but the initiative brings the city closer to guaranteeing a summer job to every youth that seeks one. According to the Employment Services Department, such a guarantee has not been made in 15 years. The city faced tremendous embarrassment last summer when it found itself ill-prepared to meet the demands of thousands of summer job applications, leading them to call on businesses to help by sponsoring youth or offering donations to the program. Many residents, who believe that summer jobs deter youth from engaging in delinquent behavior, feel that Mayor Anthony Williams has been too passive about the issue and often speak about the passion of former Mayor Marion Barry’s in securing a job for every District youth who wanted one. Last summer, The Washington Informer, in a Viewpoint question, asked District residents if increased summer youth jobs could help solve the city’s juvenile delinquency problem. One of the individuals interviewed, Sean Palmore, answered, “Summer jobs enable youth the opportunity to become self-sufficient. When they don’t have summer jobs, there only alternative is to turn to crime, drugs and things of that nature. I think that it’s imperative. Crime is going to escalate the hotter that it gets in the city. Look at how many kids have died in [DCPS] because of the recreation centers that have closed down. They don’t have any extra-curricular activities so their extracurricular activities become the street.” This statement is still relevant today as the city looks forward to a better year than 2004. As the Wall of Remembrance continues to grow and the city’s problems seem to escalate, it seems that ensuring summer youth employment is the least that we can do for young people in this area.