I attended the Crime Watch meeting last Thursday Night at the Boys and Girls Club. It was a great turnout, compared to the number of people at the last meeting, but I still feel it could have been much better.

     I have lived in South Boston my whole life. I have lived in the Lower End and City Point, and drugs and crime have affected both ends of the city.  Do not kid yourself. The neighborhood is changing, but there are still enough of us who have lived here our whole life who need to get more involved in what is happening. 

     I know everyone is busy, sometimes too busy, to care or to get involved.   Maybe every so often, parents take a break from watching their sons’ and daughters’ sporting events and concentrate a little more on their other children, who are not as talented or as lucky to have gotten into that fancy private school.  Maybe it is time for those parents who say, “I have been lucky my kids go to college and have great jobs. I don’t need to get involved,” to maybe start getting involved. 

     I have never seen a town help out so much when the chips are down, but maybe it is time to help out before someone gets to that point.   If you are one of the lucky ones whose children have not taken the wrong road, maybe it is time to reach out and help one of those parents whose child has, by going to one of these meetings and showing your support.  I am not saying to stop going to  your children’s hockey or basketball games, because of course they need your support also, but maybe just once they would not mind you not being there and being somewhere else to help someone else’s child. 

     Remember, most of these kids at some point in their lives went to school with, played in the back yard with, or maybe even played sports with your kids.  I do not know what the answer is but I do know that if you live here, it is your problem.  These meetings are very informative and the people that speak at them are great.  So if  at the next meeting we can get 50 more people, and then 50 more at the next, it shows that we do care, and we are going to do what it takes to help those families that need it.  Just a thought. 

A Concerned Parent