A message from Michelle Obama for Lakewood's Youth
Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 4:19 pm
Scott,
Thank you for posting the video of Michelle Obama and her Let's Move campaign. Her video speaks volumes on the importance of getting kids moving and fit, and basketball is one such physical activity that helps achieve that goal.
Kids love it! Heck, adults love it! One need only to swing by Kauffman and witness first hand how healthy this sport is for ALL kids. Black, white, rich, poor....those barriers do not exist on the court.
I am very passionate about returning FREE Outdoor Basketball to Lakewood. And no, I am NOT a former basketball player! I'm a runner! But I am a mother who withnessed first hand how valuable the OUTDOOR Basketball HAD been on my own childern and their friends.
It is imparitive we stop selling our youth short. Taking away or preventing the return of more hoops for yet another summer is unacceptable.
We must stop using the excuses: drugs, sex, graffitti, fighting, as the reason they were taken down and have not returned. There were MANY reasons the courts slowly disappeared one by one from the schools as well as our city parks over the course of several years.
We are now 6 years into NO Outdoor Basketball in the City of Lakewood and ALL of those reasons, sex, drugs, graffitti, and fighting still occur. So please, STOP BLAMING the basketball players!
The hoops at Kauffmann are proving so popular that it is imparitive we find more places for these kids to play. Supervising last night, I counted 35.
To be fair to the neighbors, that is alot and yes, there are alot of balls bouncing and to much standing around waiting for thier turn to get in on the action.
These kids just want to play!