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Youth Center to have free day of family fun

  • Published
  • By Amanda Shaffer
  • Pope Youth Center Program Coordinator
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Boys & Girls Clubs of Pope this week announced the launch of "Boys & Girls Clubs Day for Kids," a major new family event on our nation's calendar. Boys & Girls Clubs Day for Kids (BGC Day for Kids) will be an annual event celebrating the value of meaningful time between caring adults and children. 

At Pope, BGC Day for Kids will be celebrated with hundreds of parents and kids participating in an event at the Youth Center. The FREE event will be held Saturday, from 3 to 6 pm and will include face painting, a bounce house, T-shirt giveaways and a lot more fun family activities. 

Unlike most other industrialized nations, the United States. is one of the few nations that does not have an official day set aside to honor its young people. In a country ranked first in wealth and productivity, we do not have a day in which we recognize our most precious resource. Americans recognize the link between spending meaningful time with their kids and the tough issues facing young people, but say they don't have the time, skills or resources to do as much for their children as they feel they should. 

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is spearheading a national effort to establish BGC Day for Kids as an "official day" on the National Calendar. But while Saturday is the official day, created to bring attention to the messages of BGC Day for Kids, in reality every day should be a day for kids. 

To assist parents, practitioners and other caring adults, BGCA has created engaging educational resources to help them encourage and develop positive relationships with kids. A year-round Web site, www.dayforkids.org, will provide tools, resources and tips that support their interactions with young people. 

"We created Boys & Girls Clubs Day for Kids to foster stronger relationships between adults and children by educating them on the importance and value of spending meaningful time together," says Marjorie Egger, Youth Director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Pope 

"BGC Day for Kids will provide the opportunity for every adult to take a break, celebrate and renew their commitment to our community's children." 

A survey conducted this summer of more than 1,500 Boys & Girls Club members from across the nation identified how young people define meaningful time. 

The results revealed that most young people (78 percent) feel they do spend enough meaningful time with their parents. 

BUT ... The young people surveyed (39 percent) said they want their parents to work less and spend more outdoor time with them (43 percent). 

Young people (68 percent) say their parents or guardians are the most important role models in their lives and that the most important thing they learn from them are positive values (37 percent) 

While most (79 percent) say their parents have talked with them about Internet safety, most parents never or very rarely (67 percent) surf the Internet with their children or ask them who they are talking to online (55 percent). 

Most young people are participating in physical activities and games with their parents several times a week (55.1 percent) and eating home-cooked dinners together regularly (77 percent). 

Call the Youth Center at 394-1045 for more details.