Why Tampa Was Chosen As One of the 100 Best Communities for Youth
Article by Seung-eun Jang
Description:
The environment is a crucial factor in the development of youth. Tampa, Florida was recently chosen as one of the 100 best communities that promote positive youth development by the America’s Promise Alliance. Many questions arise from this conclusion, such as: Who gets to decide? What are the measures? How much validity does their data have? Is this set of data sufficient to base the conclusion on? Perhaps the most important question of all would be related to finding why Tampa was chosen as one of the top 100 community for youth and teens. This inquiry will be approached by sorting and listing all the possible characteristics that the researchers thought were valuable to support positive youth development. Availability of after school programs, tutoring and help outside of class, and overall effort to improve community are all characteristics of Tampa that can be seen as strengths in delivering effective youth support. On the other hand, some weaknesses that need to be improved in the Tampa community are the issues of safety, transportation, consistency in school material and of course, allocation of budget.
After school programs are a great way for kids to get involved and be active- whether it is in terms of being physically fit or being engaged with many activities. Both of these characteristics bring about positive development in youth and teens. Schools, organizations, community clubs, and other places in Tampa, such as Tampa Bay Sports Commission and MOSI, offer many options for kids to get involved after school. These opportunities may be lacking in other communities. In and out of school, tutoring is offered to help kids that are struggling with a subject matter in school; this is important, not only for academic success of youth and teens but also for psychological reasons. It is of great importance to avoid ignorance, which is the cause of many negative outcomes. Kids generally feel more like they are supported and cared for as more help is available to them. Another positive aspect about Tampa is that there are many efforts to improve the community. Know How 2 Go, Prodigy, and other research done by the Children’s Board are some of the many projects that are there to help promote positive youth development in the Tampa area.
Clearly, there are many advantages for the youth to grow up in Tampa. However, there are also disadvantages of living in the area, which need to be improved for the future. One such weakness is the issue of safety. There have been incidents that significantly affected youth development that could have been avoided. For instance in Hillsborough County, a man by the name Lee Arthur Chavis was given a coaching position for youth football, even with seven arrests on his record. Chavis, who was at the time 31 year old man, was arrested again for having a sexual relationship with a 14 year old girl.
Lack of transportation is also a problem. Many kids can’t participate in activities out of school because they lack transportation. Also, more kids struggle while taking the mid-terms and final exams that are distributed by the district because of inconsistency between the school teaching and district guideline. Despite the syllabus that was approved by the district, school teachers often teach without following the standard; this is why students are often not prepared enough to pass the tests. Poor judgment in the allocation of money can be seen not necessarily in Tampa as a whole, but in certain school members who spend money on unnecessary items not directly related to the education of students, which contributes more to the lack of money in a budget crisis. For example, Wharton High School has spent thousands of dollars in the past few years in replacing plastic trashcans and beautifying the school, when there are many greater issues in school that can be solved with the money, such as books and cafeteria food.
Contact Person: Cindy J Liberton
Funding for Academic Year: 2008-09
