Reaction to Boys' Town

It seemed like the boys were very well-off living in the Boys' Town village. Once they live there for even a week they don’t want to leave. The community acted like one big family. The boys seemed genuinely happy and caring to each other. They acted like brothers, hugging and joking around with one another. Since most of the children have lost their parents due to war or poverty the Boys’ Town society is place where they are loved and cared about. The children enjoy the community so much that some even come back to the town church to get married or christen their children. The boys not only cared about each other, but they were extremely welcoming and excited to talk to the members of the CAS program.

They showed us the assembly room where meetings were held. The children met three times a following lunchtime to discuss their problems.The mayor of the community is elected after giving a speech about what they plan to do with the program. The mayor has the authority to decide what the consequences will be of a child that misbehaves or acts violently. Other leadership positions like monitoring the bank, sports, cleaning and restaurant service are also voted upon. The judicial system seems to work out well because this type of leadership has been going on for many years. I think it also really gives the children a chance to learn about responsibility, and decision making.

The classrooms were filled with computer programming arts and ceramics. They had large learning facilites and upto date technology. I was so impressed by their skills in both of these fields. In the downstairs Each of the pieces in the art studios looked like they had been done by professional artists. I wish that I could have bought one of the little ceramic people that a child had made to take home with me to put in my bedroom. The spacious and comfortable rooms were very tidy because the boys were expected to keep their areas clean as part of living in the community. Even though there are three people to a room, the living situation is a thousand times better than living on the streets.

The Boys’ Town field trip was definitely worth not having the Friday off. I’m so glad that I got to see the children and the way they live. Even though they may not have their parents or have come from traumatizing experiences, they have built a strong relationship with each other that they will have for the rest of their lives.