We need help avoiding trouble

DEAR Governor Patrick:

I want to ask you to work on teen violence and also not to forget about the pre teens like me. There is too much violence where I live in Roxbury. There are too many monuments that remind folks of death and kids who have lost their lives.

Most of the kids I know try to do the right thing, but there are too many bad influences. I think it is good to focus on teens and what they need to stay out of trouble, like giving them jobs all year round and helping the ones who had little problems with the law from graduating to bigger trouble.

For guys like me, who are 11, 12, and 13, there need to be more programs for us so we are not tempted to do wrong things or follow behind the bad teens.

I used to play basketball with a kid in my backyard who was a nice, quiet kid. He started hanging around with the rough kids because there was nothing else for him to do. I read in the paper that he was arrested for murder. It shocked me when I saw his picture in the paper!

Sometimes it is easy for kids to be influenced to do the wrong thing if that is all they know or see around them. Parents need to help more and be more involved with their kids, but there also needs to be more mentor programs for everybody from middle school on up. The mentors don't have to be just adults; they can be other kids.

I am in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Program at MIT and have a mentor who is a freshman in college. I think it is a good idea for kids to be a part of a program where they see other kids doing good things. I would like to see all of the recreational centers open longer and on weekends.

Some churches are working with young people, but not all of them. They should. The Roxbury Y has open gym on Sundays, but other YMCAs in the communities are not open. I see kids hoping for a place to go not being able to get in. They all should be open and have longer hours on the weekends and more interesting programs. I know this costs money but I think it will save money and lives if you do it.

One of the best places for me has been the Roxbury Y basketball program. The coaches care about what we do. They check up to see how we are doing in school. We need more programs like that.

You should always ask middle and high school kids what they think they need instead of only listening to grown ups tell you what they think we need.

Bruce C. Bolling Jr. is a student at Boston Latin Academy.