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Looking for something to do this summer?
Published Friday, June 13, 2008
The lights dim and the smell of freshly popped popcorn drifts into the movie theater. As the opening credits roll across the screen, the audience erupts into thunderous applause.
That was the scene that I imagined Tuesday morning when I heard that the Arcade Theater in Ferriday was offering free movies to area kids.
It is summer, after all. What child could resist the chance to sit in an air-conditioned theater with free drinks and popcorn?
Unfortunately the scene Tuesday afternoon was very different than the images in my head.
Despite the air conditioning, despite the free admission, only two children showed up.
Area churches offered the movie for students who have finished the first through third grades.
But only two kids showed up.
The scene was not much better in Natchez that afternoon.
High Strung, a rock band that has made national headlines by going on tour to libraries across the nation, helped kick-off the summer reading program for the George Armstrong Public Library.
The library reserved City Auditorium for this event, hoping that the dance floor would be filled with lots of children dancing and having a good time.
Unlike the scene at the Arcade Theater, a sizable group of children and their parents came to listen and dance.
But the number of kids that danced like a bunch of jumping beans didn’t come close to filling up the auditorium dance floor. There was plenty of room left for many more children.
That doesn’t count the sea of empty chairs that circled the dance floor.
And like the offering in Ferriday, there was air conditioning and the event was absolutely free.
Such scenes leave me scratching my head when I hear from many people I meet who say that there isn’t anything in the Miss-Lou for children to do.
It is a common refrain that every photographer of the Natchez Democrat hears.
Many of my days as a photojournalist were spent bouncing from one community event to another.
In fact, some days would be so busy that I would not make it back to the office until the sun went down.
That is why comments about children in the Miss-Lou not having anything to do have always rung hollow to me.
Flipping through recent pages of the newspaper, one can find a multitude of summer programs for children of all ages.
Guitar lessons, two acting workshops, summer reading programs, summer videos, cooking camps, pioneer week, discovery camp, computer camp, art camp — the offerings are endless.
And if that weren’t enough, practically every church in town will be hosting a Vacation Bible School.
You don’t even have to look any farther than today’s Top of the Morning to find a free program that gives children a chance to improve their self-confidence, their language skills and their ability to work with others and have fun doing it.
While the children have a ball, these programs teach vital skills that will help them excel when they return to their school desks in August.
What more could a child and a parent want?
Yet the Arcade Theater entertained only two students Tuesday afternoon.
Maybe parents and children want nothing more to do than complain that there is nothing to do.
That’s a shame because there is plenty more to do.
Ben Hillyer is the Web editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or by e-mail at ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.
Comments
Posted by dangyankee (anonymous) on June 13, 2008 at 12:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What percentage of Ferriday residents with small children read the Natchez Democrat, I wonder? For that matter, what percentage of Natchez residents with small children read the Democrat? Point is, how many people actually KNEW about the free movie, or the dance, even?
Of those who did, how many had the freedom from work or other responsibilities to take their children to a free movie? Especially given that there is nothing particularly "special" about either air conditioning OR movies in an age when nearly everyone (or so it seems) has AC at home AND cable TV AND video games, etc.
That said, you DO have a point: People would rather complain about having nothing to do, than actively seek something to do. If they really wanted to look for "stuff," well, hey, a copy of the Democrat costs only 50 cents (except on Sunday), and in most grocery stores, as well as many other businesses that most Mis-Lou residents frequent, there often are flyers, etc., posted about current goings-on--people need only look. But that would take "energy," of course.
I grew up in a town (or outside of it) of about 8000 people, lived for a while in a college town of about 70,000, lived for a long time in a metropolitan area of 2.5 million people--and in every one of those places, the most common complaint was that there was "nothing to do." Heck, people in Manhattan and San Francisco and Seattle and Miami all probably spend a good part of their free time complaining that there is "nothing to do." Societally (if that is a word) speaking, we seem to have lost the ability to FIND things to do on our own, and instead wait passively to be entertained by some kind of cosmic television or something.
I could go on, but will shut up, realizing that I'm writing only because I have nothing to do right now.
(Hope y'all don't get rained out at the Relay tonight!)
Posted by EnKiKur (anonymous) on June 13, 2008 at 1:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sensory overload may be part of the problem Yankee. People might actually be seeking things not to do, and the complaint that there is nothing to do may be arising from the problems associated with finding a calm enough place to do that nothing.
Another thing, kids don't really like it when grownups invade their world with all these programs designed to do this or that to the kids' minds. Kids aren't dumb. All they need is a little space and freedom and access to other kids and they work out the problems of life by themselves.
I remember the dread of vacation bible school. It was sort of an imposed obligation one had to suffer through. You have to dress up and listen to someone else's interpretation of ancient events and make dubious art projects parents will later praise you profusely over, all the while knowing that both the art and the praise are part of the social imposition and more than a little false.
A swimming pool, a bike path, and a good playground with bars to climb on and some ball courts are all kids need, with some secret places hid here and there. And some moms around with enough time to watch them and serve up kool-aid and cookies, moms who aren't struggling to help dad with the burden of paying taxes and bills. None of this has to be extravagant.
Posted by dangyankee (anonymous) on June 13, 2008 at 3:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
EnKiKur, I think you may be right . . . We are all guilted into thinking that we HAVE to be doing something, all the time, and so we go into sensory overload. We have lost sight of the fact that it is not only okay to "do nothing," but even desirable sometimes. In the same way that we need sleep, we need "do-nothing" time--time to sit on our back steps and watch the sunrise, for instance, or time to walk around with our dogs or cats, or to watch dragonflies down by a pond.
Maybe we shoud worry less about finding "something" to do, and more about finding time to have "nothing" to do.
It's all about perspective, isn't it?
Posted by Swapmeet (anonymous) on June 13, 2008 at 6:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
People ought to sit on their front porch swing or their favorite chair under the carport and watch the birds as they feed on your feeder you put out. I can sit there a couple of hours and just enjoy the quite. Taking 24 hours of school this summer and having a three year old will make you not seek "something" to do. LOL.
Posted by natchezsouthside (anonymous) on June 13, 2008 at 7:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Maybe parents and children want nothing more to do than complain that there is nothing to do."
Truer words have never been spoken. This paper's comments sections attest to that.
Posted by humorme (anonymous) on June 13, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ben, you and Julie have plenty to say about children and parenting. How many kids do you have? Just wondering.
Posted by fatherof4 (anonymous) on June 13, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"There's nothing to do" is just an excuse for when they get caught doing something they shouldn't be doing!
Posted by gemccull (Gary McCullars) on June 13, 2008 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Great article, Ben.
I have kids and grand rugrats. Now, whether you have children or not is not the issue.
I think of the "nothing to do" scenario is the same as "nothing to play with" scenario. Of course, the solution to either is to give them a chore and their tune changes real darn fast!
Posted by lady_x98 (anonymous) on June 13, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Information about events such as these are buried so deep in the newspaper that by the time people finish reading all the of the other bad and depressing sometimes senseless news they are so drain before there finally reach that section of the newspaper.
I would suggest positioning this information in a more visible and readable area of the paper instead of allowing other news to drown it out. You wouldn' have to put the entire article about the special event on the front page, but maybe a tag line drawing reader to that particulas section of the papaer. Or how about a special Summer Event section in the paper during the summer months that features such events for children.
As a parent I am always looking for things to involve my children in, but information is hard to find in the newspaper. When I do hear about them or read them in the paper it is alway after the fact.
Posted by Peace007 (anonymous) on June 14, 2008 at 12:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Lack of advertising, perhaps?
Posted by texasranger (anonymous) on June 14, 2008 at 12:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Most folks are about as happy as they wanna be.I told my uncle once that i felt lost. He said sometimes lost is a good place to be. Sometimes by yourself doing nothing is a good place to be. A good place to be is wherever it is that makes you happy. A good friend told me once just do what makes you happy,which doesn,t take much. If you feel bad and don,t have anything to do. Visit Trace Haven nursing home for a few hours and you will feel a lot better when leave.We,re all very lucky if we have our health,a few good friends and we,re above ground...Any Day Above Ground is A Good Day.
Posted by texasranger (anonymous) on June 14, 2008 at 12:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tis true for some odd reason,upcoming events don,t seem to make it around town like they should for whatever the reasons are....my grandmama gave me chores and work in the garden pretty regular,so if i got some time off on the weekends i found something to do quick,long as i could get away from her..ha
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on June 14, 2008 at 11:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My kids told me they were bored one time...I got the entire house cleaned in no time. I have never heard those words again.
I'm with the bird feeding idea. Watching critters feed and hop around has been therapeutic for me. I feed squirrels and the occasional possum, too. My dogs and cats never fail to turn my blues into happiness. I'm a critter-liker.
Posted by msfish (anonymous) on June 14, 2008 at 12:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I can't remember the last time a kid wanted to "just sit"during summer vacation! What sad commentary I am reading here. It certainly explains the low literacy rates and high volume of kids in Youth Court. Has anybody looked at the teen pregnancy rate lately? Seems to me kids have too much time to themselves and thats when they find trouble. I commend these local facilities that are trying to offer good programs for the community. Remember its not the quantity, its the quality and if you make a difference in one child or family's life, then it's a good thing.
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