Boys and Girls Club a Safe Place for Children

– Meqdes Mesfin, Medford resident and Parent

On May 1, 2009, there was a story whose sole source of information was the Medford Police Department, although the incident took place at the Medford Boys and Girls Club’s Gene Mack Clubhouse. As a parent whose young children greatly benefit from the safety and structure provided by the club, AND, as a public health professional who has worked for decades in violence prevention and intervention, I am quite disturbed by the fact that there was such an incident. I do hope that the investigation will yield sufficient information in order to allow our community the opportunity to prevent such incidents from happening again.

I got information about this incident from two sources. As an insidemedford.com reader, I got the police department version of what happened, and as a parent I received a letter from the Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Middlesex County. Both assure us that there were no injuries as a result of the shooting that took place and I am glad for that.

However the two have significant differences in what exactly happened, and perhaps in how (if at all) the staff responded. This, I believe is truly important in the media for a number of reasons.

Experience shows that false/insufficient information feeds subsequent violence. This can happen through retaliation, but it can also happen through community action/inaction as the case may be. The incident as described in insidemedford.com at best would cast some doubt on the judgment, policy and procedures of the Club, which in turn could jeopardize the smooth functioning or even the very existence of the only such resource in Medford. That cannot bode well in this community, that is already filled with concern about dwindling resources for youth, particularly for the summer of 2009 and the current fiscal climate.

The limitation of perspectives and the lack of balance tend to leave out important information such as what exactly the club had rented out the space for, what the policies and procedures were and whether they were followed, and even more importantly, whether the safety of staff was compromised at any point.

I suspect that the impression on your part was that the story was complete and accurate. It is really hard for me, with the information I have to believe that it is complete and accurate, and I felt it my duty to share that with you.

I had hoped that there would be some discussion generating from it, but that has not happened. Please feel free to pursue this story further if you choose. I hope that, that you will consider checking out the club, or checking in with parents whose children use it, and finding ways make information about the club accessible to the community.