“They Don’t Wanna Be Saved?” Save Them Anyway!

By Betty Jean Grant

Betty Jean Grant

Now, you know the famous line from Megan Thee Stallion’s song is, “If they don’t wanna be saved, don’t saved ‘em!” I was tempted to use that refrain but neither I nor the situation at hand, is that dark or serious.

The situation I am referring to is the behavior and disposition of some of our youth after they get out of school in the afternoon. If you are planning a visit to the McDonald’s Restaurants at Delavan/Grider, Main near Utica St. or William & Jefferson, this writer advises you to go before 3 pm or after 4 pm. That is when one can avoid the profanity laden dialogue, the stench of weed and cigarettes being smoked and shared by more than a few of the young people assembled outside the locked restaurant doors.

The doors are locked by the restaurant staff to manage the number of students allowed in the restaurant during the time they are out side waiting for their buses to show up. The system of allowing the students in, no more than 3 at a time, seems to be working. It lets the stu dents be served or to use the restrooms without causing the adult patrons to ‘run for the hills’ at the sight of a bus load of students descending at the restaurant.

In addition to the bad behavior at McDonald’s, I am disappointed that it takes so many police cars or law enforcement officers to monitor our young people as they get out of school, every day. I think we need to invest in recruiting younger, neighbor hood men and women to assist violence prevention groups such as Stop The Violence Coalition, FATHERS group and the Fruit Of Islam (FOI) to provide mentorship, security and safety for our students and com munity.

We, as a community, must acknowledge the sad reality that some of the monied, decision makers in this city have decided that some of our students have become too unruly or undisciplined, to be saved. We must act now, before the education of our children continues on its downward path.

In my heart, this writer believes that all our students want to be ‘saved’ or educated. Many of them need tuto rial assistance but either don’t know how to or are ashamed to ask for help. So, going forward; instead of thinking, “ If they don’t wanna be saved, don’t save ‘em”, I am going to do all I can to ensure that we help save every child that we are capable of.