A group of Owensboro residents gathered Monday evening at the Dugan Best Recreation Center to discuss ideas for new and ongoing programs for the city’s youth. As the Parks and Recreation Department begins their six-week trial run for extended hours, suggestions were made for a variety of concerns that affect children from different age groups.
Beginning Monday, Dugan Best extended its hours until 9 p.m. on weekdays and weekends, after requests for later operating hours came from an anti-violence nonprofit, My Brother’s Keeper. The group has been advocating for active solutions to combat violence, as several of this year’s shootings have involved juveniles and 18-year-olds.
According to Dugan Best Rec Center Director Michael Gray, those at the center see several kids between ages 12 and 17 at Dugan Best, but the majority of children who utilize the rec center are younger.
“After school, we normally see 8 to 11-year-olds. Their parents will pick them up after they get off work,” Gray said.
Parks and Rec Director Amanda Rogers said Monday’s meeting was important to the success of Dugan Best’s new hours of operation. Rogers and Gray said they needed all the community input they could get.
“We’re here to serve, so we just want to know how we can better do that,” Roger said.
Gray said new programs have been implemented, such as a homework program for 14 to 16-year-olds that was born from a new partnership with the Brescia University women’s basketball team. The rec center also offers a room for video games, equipped with a 60-inch TV, a room for board and card games, a gymnasium for pickup basketball games, arts and crafts activities and a full kitchen for group gatherings.
However, Gray said this year’s Dugan Best field trip to Holiday World saw far fewer children attend than ever before.
“This was the first year ever that kids didn’t participate and show up to go to Holiday World,” he said. “We need kids to come and communicate what they want to do here.”
Ideas to make Dugan Best successful came from many members of the audience, which included City leaders such as Mayor Tom Watson, City Commissioners Larry Conder, Larry Maglinger and Jeff Sanford, City Manager Nate Pagan, and Owensboro Public School board member Michael Johnson, OPS Chief Academic Officer Matthew Constant and key members of The Owensboro Black Expo. Tim Collier, who founded My Brother’s Keeper, was present as well.
The idea of formulating a survey, asking teenagers what they’d like to see at the rec center, came from resident and Dugan Best volunteer Brionna Greer. David Gerkin, River Valley Behavioral Health therapist, suggested Dugan Best offer meals, while Collier suggested better communication methods to get the word out about events.
A more diverse crowd at Dugan Best has been brought on by the center’s implementation of free WiFi, Gray said. However, getting kids to stick around for long periods of time has remained a challenge.
“A lot of mothers and fathers don’t know what’s going on in our community,” Collier said. “Are there other ways we can get the word out?”
One resident suggested push notifications and emails be sent instead of relying on Facebook posts that don’t show up on everyone’s timeline.
Concerns were also raised over the 1 a.m. curfew that’s been established via City ordinance. Both young adults and children tend to sit outside Dugan Best after the center closes and either gamble or play music to pass the time, Greer said. Many of them don’t feel anything is wrong with it.
“I was young once, but when I was 14, 15, 16 — I didn’t want to be supervised. I was a pretty good kid, but I didn’t want to be around adults, and I don’t think that thought process has changed,” Rogers said. “What is it that could be so enticing that we could get this group who’s gaining their independence — how do we entice that group to come through the doors and stay? I feel like that’s a tough spot that we’re in.”
To this argument, there was no clear answer, though an array of suggestions was provided, from imposing earlier curfews to encouraging parents to play a more active role in their children’s lives.
“A lot of parents don’t want to know what their kids are doing wrong out there,” said parent Lekisha Hall. “Parents need to step up. They’re not disrespectful kids, and they do need us.”
Collier, who’s been fighting for an earlier city-wide curfew, said that, after 10 p.m., most parents aren’t parenting anymore because they’re asleep at home. An earlier curfew would be a good start in getting children off the streets and on the right track.
“You’ve got to set some boundaries and expectations for these young people. They’re going to try and push them, just like I did, but it’s up to us to control those boundaries of what we feel like is important for the prospect of them becoming good adults,” said Mayor Watson.
