Mentors, Saviors

Eugene Kane wrote a nice column about how important it is to not give up on kids that have made poor choices.

He points out, "Even if they've been in trouble with the law, hopefully they are still young enough to learn from their mistakes."

Kane detailed his participation in a Black History Month program.

The room where I went to speak Tuesday was filled with approximately 60 kids - mostly African-American - exhibiting that time-honored look of boredom that young people everywhere get whenever adults are trying to jam some sense into their heads.

But attendance at this Black History Month program was required. The location was a juvenile corrections center on the north side; most of the youths have been in serious trouble for incidents that landed them in facilities like Ethan Allen for boys or Southern Oaks for girls.

...Patricia Bridges, a parole officer who has coordinated the Black History Month program for the Milwaukee juvenile corrections division for eight years, thinks these young black people needed - and deserved - better direction from the adults in their lives.

..."You have to show them someone cares," she insisted. "They need something to hold on to daily. Some of them want to do right, but they get swayed by other people who don't want to do right."

That's why this particular Black History Month program was something the kids in the room needed to sit through, even if they wanted to be somewhere else. At least in this room, there were adults who cared for them and wanted them to succeed.

Kane makes a compelling case for responsible adults to serve as mentors to at risk kids in the African-American community.

If only Kane would put his words into action.

About a year ago, Jessica McBride blew the whistle on Kane's hypocrisy.

I wonder. Since then, did he have a change of heart and become a mentor himself?

These kids need far more than a Black History Month program. They need the presence of adults in their lives, to care for them and help them to succeed.

I hope Kane is now practicing what he preaches.