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.