KLAS-TV: Metro Youth Program

Metro Sees Success in Youth Program (KLAS-TV, 2/25)

Metro's Police Athletic League has succeeded in steering some students away from gangs. Now they're going for another goal for the youth program.

Officers work closely with these students and many now want to go into law enforcement. But as mentors, officers wanted to show there are a lot of options out there, regardless of where you come from.

"A lot of the kids love sports, so we kind of use that as a carrot to get them in and get them tutoring and get them help in school," said Melissa Lardomita with the PAL program.

PAL has lured about 300 students into gyms, getting them off the streets and on the right track.

It's kind of obvious that the more stable adult attention you give to kids, the more they are going to be diverted from drugs, gangs and crime. These programs tend to work while the "scared straight" programs don't.

The only problem is that there is never enough adult attention to go around. In America, youth programs have always taken a back seat to pure enforcement, and with budgets being cut, that's only going to get worse.