Gaithersburg Youth Center at Robertson Park question

[Anonymous]

My kid will attend Lakeland park middle school next year. We live within school walking zone. He is used to Bar-T onsite at ES, and we pick him up at 6pm. Can someone tell me about normally what middle schooler attending at Lakeland park middle school do after school because there is no on-site childcare option? We will take advantage of some onsite activities offered from MS if possible, but it seems that they end at 4:15pm only. I hear about Gaithersburg Youth Center at Robertson Park that kids can be bused to. Is that safe & fun? What do kids do there?

I know that he can walk back home, but I don't like it that he spends the rest of afternoon on internet by himself at home. Is there any nearby bus pick up option to pick him up from school to nearby math center, chess club, boardgame club, do volunteering or sport club would be great?

[Anonymous]

So I don't have direct experience with the Gaithersburg Youth Center, but I do have experience with the rec center at White Oak, where one of my male family members was corrupted and turned onto marijuana and a life of crime by the kids who hung out at the White Oak rec center and picked kids to indoctrinate into their devious activities.

Rec centers are not safe for our kids. They offer good amenities but they are largely unsupervised. Because they are largely unsupervised and frequented by kids of single-parent households who aren't hold to pick them up after school or to shuttle them to another afterschool activity, this is where horrible go to prey on vulnerable children, because they know they'll have free access.

So DO NOT ASSUME that sending your kids to a rec center afterschool is the same as the kind of supervision they'd receive at school or with an afterschool program like Kids After Hours or Excel Beyond the Bell. It's free reign over there. Try to get a trusted family member or neighbor to look after your kid if you can instead. Or have your kid join an afterschool sport where a coach will be responsible for him.

[Anonymous]

My kids had a great experience at the Thomas Farm Community Center (Rockville) after middle school. A bus picked them up at school and stopped at the CC (enough kids did i for a whole bus). They could use the gym, do homework, play video games. They provided snack. They also had trips on 1/2 days and some no school days.

I would call the school and ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I don't have direct experience with the Gaithersburg Youth Center, but I do have experience with the rec center at White Oak, where one of my male family members was corrupted and turned onto marijuana and a life of crime by the kids who hung out at the White Oak rec center and picked kids to indoctrinate into their devious activities.

Rec centers are not safe for our kids. They offer good amenities but they are largely unsupervised. Because they are largely unsupervised and frequented by kids of single-parent households who aren't hold to pick them up after school or to shuttle them to another afterschool activity, this is where horrible go to prey on vulnerable children, because they know they'll have free access.

So DO NOT ASSUME that sending your kids to a rec center afterschool is the same as the kind of supervision they'd receive at school or with an afterschool program like Kids After Hours or Excel Beyond the Bell. It's free rein over there. Try to get a trusted family member or neighbor to look after your kid if you can instead. Or have your kid join an afterschool sport where a coach will be responsible for him.

I’ll echo this. My nephew used to hang out at a different Rec Center (not Gaithersburg) and totally got hooked on porn thanks to the friends he was hanging out with.

If you can’t be home with your kid, I agree with the PP - either an afterschool sport or another trusted adult.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately I don't think this place is the best as others have stated. There are after school clubs and sports at LPMS and a late bus but not the entire year.

[Anonymous]

Op here. That is scary and worrying for thinking to put kid at rec center after school. I don't trust kid this age to make a wise choice.Thank you for sharing.

We are willing to pay for supervised program if there is any option. If there is none, I would rather him staying at home on internet or video game after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. That is scary and worrying for thinking to put kid at rec center after school. I don't trust kid this age to make a wise choice.Thank you for sharing.

We are willing to pay for supervised program if there is any option. If there is none, I would rather him staying at home on internet or video game after school.

PP who shared about what happened with our family member at White Oak Rec Center: Yes. Either get him into a supervised program or keep him at home and MONITOR that he is staying at home.

Rec centers are NOT safe.

[Anonymous]

There should be after school activities at his school that start sometime around October. They usually run after school Tuesday-Thursday until 4:15 and then kids get can take a bus back to their neighborhood. They are free; sports will be available when he’s in 7th and 8th if he’s into those.

[Anonymous]

Rec centers are full of latch key kids. Sometimes that can bring out the worst with so many unsupervised and with no built in accountability or direct parent support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. That is scary and worrying for thinking to put kid at rec center after school. I don't trust kid this age to make a wise choice.Thank you for sharing.

We are willing to pay for supervised program if there is any option. If there is none, I would rather him staying at home on internet or video game after school.

This is the issue, and it is magnified when it’s groups of teens unsupervised for hours after school on a daily basis. They get bored and do stupid sh$t - vaping, smoking, shoplifting, porn.