City of Jackson Parks and Recreation Dept. launches new website for child-safe summer activities

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Summer is just around the corner, and that means your children will need something to do. Getting your child involved will be easier than ever thanks to a new website and push from the city of Jackson.

In just a few short weeks, pools will be ready and open to the public. However, that isn’t the only activity that will be available for your children this summer.

“People always say, well, there’s nothing for us to do. We actually created a website for safe summer, the goals of the website, is to put up for all organizations that are doing programs in the city to put their information on there,” Parks and Recreation Director Ison Harris said.

Safe Summer Youth Expo, the website created by the Parks and Recreation department, allows the city, non-profits, churches, and local organizations to post details about safe summer events that children can get involved in.

“We’re doing this for the betterment of our parents and being able to allow parents to have an option to be able to find these activities and some of them can be neighborhood can be something that you can walk to those type of things are something that we want. We want kids to find safe alternatives to do,” Harris explained.

Harris says programs provided by the city are already posted on the website.

“From the city, all our programs are actually on there. We’re having a summer camp at Grove Park Community Center starting June 5, there’s a junior golf program that competes every day at Pete Brown golf course. So it’s still a really cool program. The kids can actually go be a part of this summer,” Harris explained.

From sports programs like New Horizon’s “open play” and the Jackson Police Department PALS Program to learning in the city’s Zoo, parents in Jackson believe it could help keep children out of harms way.

“It’s easier to go on and catch them before they start getting in trouble than is when they’re in the midst of it,” Jackson parent Sharon Myles explained.

But it’s not just going to give your child something to do this summer, mentorship can also be offered through programs - and hopefully decrease the possibility of youth crime.

“They need to notice somebody cares for them. And that’s why it’s in a lot of my right now that just like, we have nobody that I feel like, they feel like they lost. So it will help curb the ones that have not already gotten on the wrong path,” Myles said.

”You’ve gotta give them ample opportunities. And they’ll make good choices, but you have to have plenty opportunities for them out there. A lot of those times when you meet with those youth organizations, that’s where you meet those people,” Harris said.

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