But the charges some are facing are a bit extreme and arbitrary (given much more severe violence at South Philly which hasn't warranted much of a mention by anyone in city government). There could be other charges and consequences for these young people.

But that's just one small part of it. There's a huge expense and time deploying police to Center City as well over the long term. If the city's wiilling to do that, then why not some serious analysis of what's happening in the schools and neighborhoods of these students, some efforts to provide positive and responsive outlets in addition to punitive measures, and some efforts at broader dialogue about engaging youth and helping them provide input into building a city where they see their own futures.

As well I'd like to see some accountability and humility on the part of city leaders some of whom are AWOL on school violence issues but get all flustered when it comes knocking on their doors. It's the lock 'em up, who do they think they are, kind of outrage - as opposed to some analysis - that feels short sighted here.

Gaetano, I work one block from where all the drama yesterday unfolded. While I have seen groups of kids at 15th and Chestnut when school lets out, I have never felt unsafe or been worried.

They don't look much different than the horde I joined walking up the hill to the subway when I left high school every day. And they don't look much different than the roving band of students I joined at the Gallery during middle school either. They also don't look the gang of ruffians who would eat pizza and order Chinese in Suburban Station from Masterman every day.

Except maybe that they all wear ugly uniforms now.

Yes they are smelly. Yes they are loud. Yes, their awkward limbs flail about oddly. And yes, teenagers, especially without guidance often act out and do dumb or inappropriate things. On the rare occasion with catastrophic or fatal results.

However, in the case of the two "news reports" from the past few weeks, I sense yellow journalism.

Throwing snowballs, breaking "fixtures" at Macy's(does that mean a rambunctious kid knocked over a mannequin?), shouting at adults are all annoying behaviors. But worthy of federal charges? Expulsion? Blaming the internets? Come on.

This kind of hysteria sells papers. And it helps get elected officials in the news too. And they get to show their constituents how tough they are.

But maybe you just need to define the terms of the "crisis" that is being reported for me. Because I don't totally understand what it is. T

Leaving that aside, just in the case of our libraries, we could go from an average of 4 day a week service now due to rolling closures to a full 6 day a week schedule (which means there'd be somewhere to go after school for all teens) by just hiring 10-15 extra full-time security guards.

That's all it would take.

And as Phil Goldsmith pointed out in his column yesterday, if you want to find savings in a city budget, look at your police department.

In my opinion, if we can have enough extra cops to permanently reassign them to patrol Center City after school, then we must have the financial flexibility to address the structural cause of youth getting into trouble after school.

A lot of parents in this city really do worry about what their kids are doing after school. So it may take time to fully serve their needs but it would be time much better spent by decison-makers spent than tossing off incendiary comments and half-baked ideas to the public.