Jobs for Teens

Father Gregory J. Boyle (“Self-Esteem: A Matter of Life, Death,” Op-Ed Page, Jan. 28) tells it like it is. People who care to look or listen must know that tougher cops and more jails are not the way to stop the teen-age gang and drug epidemics; jobs are.

We need not despair. A dynamic new city-funded program is attacking the root causes, offering hope and building the self-esteem of youngsters right now. The Clean and Green project of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps employs 300 junior high school students on neighborhood beautification projects throughout the city.

With enough public support, thousands of at-risk young people could earn honest money performing needed work repairing broken sidewalks, building access ramps for the disabled, cleaning alleys and catch basins, planting an urban forest or organizing local recycling efforts.

Teaching kids valuable skills while accomplishing meaningful work produces public benefits and reduces future expenditures for welfare or prisons.

This practical approach is presently being demonstrated on a small scale and it works. Let’s build upon this foundation, spending our limited funds on a more constructive kind of “Operation Hammer.”

GORDON CLINT

Assistant Secretary

Board of Public Works

City of Los Angeles