What it was, was football.
Fitz Hill and Marcus Elliott, two names familiar with sports fans in Arkansas, will tell you right quick: Many of their mentors as young men were coaches. Football coaches. They taught discipline and teamwork and gave kids a good role model. And, they say, that's lacking today.
Back in 2005, to save $200,000 to $300,000 a year, the schools in Little Rock shut down the sixth-grade football program. (That was during the Roy Brooks administration.) There are some who point to that decision and to the rising crime rate in Little Rock, and notice a correlation.
They are quick to point out, though, that there are many reasons for crime, and you can't blame all this on football, or lack of same. But--and here's the point--if everybody did what he could do, then crime would surely fall in the capital city. And for Fitz Hill and Marcus Elliott, not to mention a lot of people in the private sector, they can do football.
Sixth graders who are studying playbooks aren't casing the grocery store. Sixth graders who are hitting the sleds aren't messing with drugs. Sixth graders who are getting chewed out by a coach for a roughing penalty aren't getting mentored by a drug dealer. And a sixth grader who has spent the afternoon running routes, tackling dummies and running wind-sprints will probably be too tired to run the streets at night.
Little Rock's school district hopes to kick off this new "6th & Goal-Model Up" program this fall. The program will rely on volunteers, district coaches and other personnel, and will be entirely funded by private sources. John Daniels, the athletic director for the district, says the kids will learn football, sure, but the main goal is to teach "opportunity and character."
What it is, is football.
And every effort helps when it comes to giving our kids a positive diversion, a pastime that's recreation and instruction. For proof, read the papers.
Editorial on 08/07/2017