What We've Learned in Six Years!


Previous Page	WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED!
In Blue Springs, Missouri, there are approximately 18,000 youth under the age of 18. There are also 100 employees in the Blue Springs Police Department. This one hundred-member police force is responsible on a daily basis to keep watch over 18,000 youth, one officer per 180 kids. Impossible! In fact, there aren’t enough police in any community to teach, guard, patrol, and protect the children. So how does a community serve 18,000 youth? Blue Springs has found the solution. According to a study at the University of Michigan, the average time a family spends in communication or family time is 34 minutes per week. A family is expected to teach children all the rights and wrongs, all the values like honesty, respect, kindness, dependability, cleanliness, and discipline, in 34 minutes per week. Imagine for a moment, if schoolteachers had only 34 minutes a week to teach all subjects. How successful would our schools be if teachers taught for only 34 minutes a week? Therefore, how successfu are we as parents, if we’re only teaching our children for 34 minutes a week? Blue Springs has found the solution. Seventeen miles east of Kansas City is the beautiful community of Blue Springs Missouri. Within Blue Springs live 15,000 solutions, families. The primary responsibility for teaching and protecting children belongs to the family. The most effective way to stabilize and secure the safety of schools and the community is to reinforce the family. We introduce Family Week, a successful reinforcement. In fact, Family Week is no longer a project in Blue Springs; it is a way of life. After years of growth, hard work, and increasing development of in-home family support, the significance of family life is spreading throughout the year. We’ve learned during our Family Week years that strong families can change the health and well being of schools and communities. We encourage you to join us. "Putting Families First" works!