Steve (go read his blog), in response to this gem by Tozer, mentions:

Still, people would argue that we're not putting in as many community centers as we need to in order to keep the teens off the streets. Put in sports and games as a god to serve.

One of the things that mystifies me about the whole community center issue is this: when I was in the "at risk" years, I didn't have a community center. I hung out with a group of guys, too, “on the streets,” but we never even thought of criminal activity.  None of us did.  All of us now, by societal standards, are "normal" (I know, debatable) and "contribute to society." No one is in jail.

Why do today's youth, "need" a community center to "keep them off the streets,” and by direct implication, out of jail? Why is it different today?

I think that, by and large, it was that my parents took personal responsibility for my behavior when I was out of the house. NOT that “it” wasn’t my fault, nor that they were at fault if I made a bad decision.  It was that they understood that I was theirs; my bad behavior reflected badly upon them (“Smiths don’t do that kind of thing.”); and that they were responsible for setting the standard for “good” and “bad” acts.  Yes, some behavior was inherently bad, some good, but there was a standard to which I could always be referred by a board of education applied to my seat of learning.

My parents, and my friends’ parents, NEVER expected the community at large to create character in us: the community, in an unspoken-sort-of-social-compact-way, REINFORCED (and sometimes repudiated) the character created at home. My friend’s parents felt no hesitation or remorse in notifying my parents if needed. And neither did mine.  The repercussions at home, knowingly expected, were truly feared.  We didn’t dare be stupid away from home.  We knew our parents would ACT to enforce the standards, and to CORRECT our thinking and behavior so as to not repeat the offense.

In reality, our community “center’ wasn’t a place or a building; it was a common set of expectations, created at home, regarding right and wrong behavior that everyone accepted and helped enforce. The “center” was a broad feeling of “community” that bound everyone, across generations. It indeed took the village to raise, not the child, but the community.

Why is this important? Ever heard “a rising tide raises all ships?” How about “one for all, & all for one?” (Should be: One for all, all for One.) I believe we who are Christ-followers are called to create that same sense of community. First, do it in our families. Second, in our local Body. Then, we can reach across and help in the entire HS Family. We are NOT alone; we ARE connected, by Christ. We are EXPECTED to make a difference. Let’s do it.

Which is another reason why we homeschool.