FROM THE EDITOR
Family Friendliness
The most economically healthy cities and towns in the next decade will be those that market themselves as being "family friendly," says Richard Louv, author of 101 Things You Can Do for Your Children's Future (Anchor Books, 1994). Like the recent "Stand for Children" rally in Washington, D.C., Louv's book is a call to action—for parents, nonparents, employers, teachers and communities—that shows how to create a better life for children now. In the chapter with specific suggestions for cities and towns, many recommendations are already being offered by local park districts, forest preserves and recreation departments: create parks entirely for kids, sponsor teen nights and teen clubs, offer latchkey programs, develop programs for kids who are surrounded by crime, locate day care centers near high schools, start after-school programs. And the list goes on. In this issue of Illinois Parks & Recreation you'll read about such programs for children, teens and families. The childcare debate resurfaces with a look at the Glencoe Park District's fully licensed, at-full-capacity childcare center (page 35), which operates from 7:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. daily to accommodate the community's primarily dual-income households. Most families today are faced with two parents working outside the home. In addition, there are more single-parent families; few have extended family located nearby, and the supply of available day care is well below current demand. Says 18-year veteran of after-school programming Sam Thompson (page 39), whose day camps in Crystal Lake have evolved into full-day programs akin to flexible, affordable childcare, "Park districts can and should make contributions to the solution. 'If not us then who?'" Similar words are echoed by Elizabeth Millan of the Chicago Park District (page 27) who has worked for 20 years to help inner-city teens, who see drugs, gangs and violence on a daily basis. "We're going to continue to tap into the talents of these teens," says Millan about the district's Teen Leadership Program, which teaches life skills through academics, tutoring, and volunteerism. "We will continue to struggle, but we're going to save lives, and we're going to let them know that they can depend on us." Family friendliness. For the field of parks and recreation, it really is more than a savvy-sounding buzz-phrase. It's the way of day-to-day operations.
ON THE COVER
4 • Illinois Parks & Recreation • July/August 1996 |
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Best friends Kristen Buchholz (left)
and Kristine Penkava cool off at the
Wheaton Park District's Rice Pool and Water Park,a popular spot for kids
and families during Illinois'
hot summer days. Linda S. Penkava, a Wheaton resident, took
this shot of her daughter and says
her family takes advantage of the
park district's pool passes and
many other "fabulous" park district facilities and programs.