DATE: Thursday, March 13, 1997              TAG: 9703130355

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   61 lines

FRESH AIR TOUTED FOR FAMILIES OF TROUBLED YOUTHS A NEW PROGRAM AIMS TO HELP PARENTS AND CHILDREN BOND THROUGH RECREATION.

A new effort to introduce troubled youths to leisure opportunities will breathe some fresh air into the children's family life, the officials hope.

Sponsored by the Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Department, ``Operation Recreation'' will provide youths from the city's in-home detention program and their families with information on events, classes, places and activities in South Hampton Roads.

``They'll learn what they can do as a family,'' said Judy N. Alexander, recreation superintendent for the Parks and Recreation Department.

``A lot of times families are having so many problems they don't come together and bond. They miss that. . . . We'll try and get them to turn the TV off and communicate and do fun things.''

The sessions - the first of their kind in the region - will involve 30 children, siblings and parents at a time. The first two-hour meeting is scheduled for March 22 at Deep Creek Community Center, and others will follow every six weeks at different locations.

All of the youths have been ordered into in-home detention by local courts. Operation Recreation is a component in a broader program, which has been in place since September, aimed at helping the families of those youths learn communication, conflict resolution and bonding skills.

``The statistics are telling us something,'' said Kenny Stuart, a recreation supervisor for leisure programs.

``The American family on average spends about 14 to 20 minutes a day together,'' he said. ``Leisure time has dropped from 23 to 16 hours a week. The television is on seven hours a day . . . Juvenile crime is up 16 percent in Virginia in 1995 while other crime has decreased. We have to ask what's going on with the family.''

The program, which will not cost the city anything above the salaries that are already budgeted, is aimed at the families that are not taking advantage of park and recreation opportunities now, Stuart said. ``If we can get families to play together, we can get them to communicate.''

Eddie Briggs, coordinator of the in-home detention program, said he expects Operation Recreation to work, although there is no other local program to compare it to.

In-home detention - which allows the youths to go to school but not leave the house for any other purpose without a parent or guardian - was designed to reduce overcrowding in detention facilities and keep youngsters in their homes and schools. Briggs said the best parents can have children who end up in trouble because of peer pressure, but some parents may not have been involved enough.

All of the families could benefit from spending more time together, he said.

The young people spend an average of 30 days in in-home detention, run for the city by the Chesapeake Volunteers in Youth Services, and will participate in one session with parks and recreation officials where they'll play games and learn ways to continue recreating together.

``This is an effort to provide information that most of our clientele don't have,'' Briggs said. ``We've tested the waters with the concept and most clientele say they don't think about youth league soccer, football, community centers where they can play basketball. I don't think they are aware of the number of programs they can participate in as families. . . . We don't have a track record. We'll see how it works.''

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