Last month, in her View from the Green, Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo asked, “Are the kids all right?.”  Clearly, some of them are not. This leads to the question of what we as a community can do to help raise our kids to be ‘all right’.

One of the articles about the men who started the curling club fire had a comment that struck home, “There but for the grace of God go I.” As a parent, this comment is even more poignant. Many years ago Kyle Majewski was a boy scout with my son.  That troop of boisterous, happy little boy scouts had parents who shared hopes and dreams for their son’s futures. Now those boys are adults, some of them getting ready for their college graduations, while Kyle and his parents are preparing for a court trial and possibly years in prison. How did this happen?  The level of destruction in Norfolk on December 17 was appalling. But Kyle Majewski is not  the only former boy scout who has made bad choices, fueled by the lethal combination of drugs, alcohol and boredom.

So how do we keep our kids out of trouble? One answer is to keep them busy. During the Botelle years, this is easy. Norfolk is full of adults who willingly spend countless hours coaching sports, leading scout troops, teaching music and art. Kids roam around town in groups, riding bikes to the ball field and Tobey Pond, playing football and capture the flag in front of the town hall on summer evenings.

But in seventh grade our kids go to Regional 7, a 20 minute drive from Norfolk, where even the home games are eight miles away. NWR 7 has a wealth of extra-curricular activities, excellent sports programs, music, theater and art departments, and a huge variety of clubs and community service organizations. But Norfolk kids cannot participate in any of this unless they can find a ride home. There is no public transportation for any after-school activities.

Of course, there are teenagers who are involved in activities in Norfolk. Both the fire department and Lion’s Club ambulance encourage teens to volunteer. The kids who become fire fighters and EMT’s are learning essential life skills and gaining the maturity and self-confidence that comes with having adult responsibilities. What better way to learn about making good choices, or to experience first-hand the result of bad choices?

Both local churches have programs for teens, and youth groups and the summer work camps offer another opportunity for kids to have life-changing experiences and gain worldly perspective. Little has a more powerful impact on a teenager than sharing a meal with a homeless man in a soup kitchen who tells him not to make the same mistakes that he made, to throw away a college education, friends, family, home and career by choosing a path of drugs or alcohol.

These organizations are wonderful, but for most of our teenagers, their peers are involved in school activities.  Joining a team, the band, the school play or a club allows  kids to become part of their community. This is the foundation of their becoming active, involved and responsible members of their communities as adults. Of course, being on the baseball team is no guarantee that a kid won’t make bad choices. Or that there aren’t plenty of kids who find interesting and productive ways to spend their time without being on a team.  But with a regional high school, the ones who don’t have access to after-school activities because of lack of transportation may end up isolated and bored, which can too easily lead to trouble.

So how do we level the playing field and allow every Norfolk student the same opportunities? Currently, all the school buses leave immediately at the end of the school day.  Adding a late bus at 5pm every day would allow kids to stay at school for the afternoon for sports, to study with friends, to join clubs and activities. Achieving this may mean being creative with schedules and bus routes and it may mean waiting for an improved economy, but it is not impossible. Meanwhile, can our community to find a way to support Norfolk kids? We created the “B” line and a transportation system for seniors. We should be able to find a way to create a ‘teen’ line. There are people who drive through Winsted every day on their way home from work who could help drive some Norfolk kids up the hill.  We just need to figure out a system or a plan. Let us find a way to help all of our kids be “all right”.

Suzanne Hinman

Comments or suggestions are welcome. Also, as an experienced former car-pooler who drives through Winsted daily, I would be happy to give your kid a ride home!