Texas church helps fight after-school violence

NBCDFW.com in Dallas reports:

North Davis Church of Christ (Photo via northdavischurch.org)

A North Arlington church is offering an after-school program to cut down on problems at a Walgreens where hundreds of students congregate.

About 100 to 200 of Lamar High School’s nearly 3,000 students migrate to the nearby store when the final bell of the day rings.

“Many of them hanging out waiting for their parent to get off of work at five,” Lamar Principal Larry Harmon said.

Fights and drug deals break out in the parking lot. Richie Sherrod, who oversees youth programs at the North Davis Church of Christ, which is just up the street from Lamar, said about 72 calls to police were made in 2011.

“There’s roughly 176 days in the school year, so roughly half those days you got to call the police,” he said.

Arlington police, Lamar High School and Walgreens have been working to develop an alternative for students.

North Davis Church Christ is now offering an after-school program. Students can “get a quick snack, play some basketball, just chill, just talk with a friend for a little while,” Sherrod said.

Sherrod said police wanted to solve the problem, not simply move it from the Walgreens parking lot to another location.

Read the full story.