Once the school bell rings at Longfellow Middle School, an increasing number of kids are heading across the street to the Wauwatosa Public Library.
An increase in problems has been noted, especially crowding the entranceway, making too much noise and vandalizing books.
Are the kids at the library getting too rowdy? Should the City offer something else for these kids to do? Do you blame the parents for not teaching them how to behave in public?
Let us know what you think in our interactive forum.
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Children, please stay away from the Library. Don't you have anything better to do, like going home and playing video games?
Appears these kids need something to do. Maybe the library could put them to work reading to younger kids or helping out elsewhere. Certainly rather have them hanging out at the library than at the mall or an empty house.
I, as a student at Longfellow, find that the library is rather loud when I'm in the Children's section (rare, only if I need the computer). I usually go to the Quiet Area to do homework and study but even then the other students' voices can sometimes be heard from the Children's section. I now find that the Security Guard (or whatever) has been a great solution, even if temporary.
First, Dave & Busters...now, kids in the library.... Is there anything Tosa residents cannot complain about? Maybe their restaurants are over-salting french fries, the lane markings aren't yellow enough, or too many people are complaining. I know the media generally panders to the squeaky wheel and a majority don't complain like this, but come on...
As a parent, I take it as my responsibility to ensure my children have adequate activities. Seems to me that, employed outside of the household or not, these parents need to provide better parameters of both appropriate activities for their children after school and appropriate behavior expected from their children. This isn't the library's "fault" or the school's "fault" - bottom line, the parents need to stay involved in where their children are and what they're doing.
Yes, the libraray is not a day care for kids on wednesday. I havent been there because of increased noise etc. why cant the libraray ban kids who are rowdy from the library...when they walk in take there names show ID or you dont get in...list school they are from...I pay for this library to use it through my taxes. Do something!
I sometimes think that 'Tosans complain too much too, Pete, but not in this case. The library really is overrun with kids who have no place to go and nothing to do between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00 on school days. The one time I asked my son to meet me there after school, he was beaten up on library grounds and threatened by the mother of his attacker who showed up to collect her kid while he was pummeling mine. They don't just hang out in the library and even the ones who do make it inside, aren't there to read. They're there to socialize. The building also houses City Hall and city departments like the health department. There are kids hanging out down by the City Hall elevator, too, and milling around the hallways. I avoid the whole place after school on weekdays. I imagine that's true for a lot of people. The best way to scare the kids away, in my opinion, would be to offer an after school program right in the municipal building. The last thing they want is structure and adult supervision. They'd be gone in a flash.
Not that I would EVER condone vandalization, but the situation is indicative of an obvious but overlooked problem. Look around you from a look of 30 years ago to an age where playgrounds abounded and now have been replaced with housing projects and parking spaces. NOBODY sees the value in creating space for kids to play. It's all about the $$$$ ! Yeah, OK, so you've got kids inside the library chaffing against the nearly wealthy of Wauwatosa who would prefer that the kids found somewhere else to play. Would be the same problem in Brookfield, Belgium, Cedarburg, Grafton, Mequon or anywhere else. You can talk a good game for education, but to quote Cat Stevens from an age ago "Where do the children play?" Look for a solution to THAT problem and you'll solve the noise issue. Ohhhhh, but that's going to cost money and space..... Yup....