In today’s electronic and technology-driven society, we far too often see our youth gravitating to cell phones, television, computers and video games rather than going outside.

While those types of entertainment can be fun, we must create an environment where going out to play tag, hide and seek, baseball, football or some form of exercise becomes part of the daily routine.

Unfortunately, we also see that our children simply don’t understand what it means to be prideful of the community in which they live.

Those are the goals of the new Proctorville Youth Police Academy, which begins this Friday at the Proctorville village hall.

This program has many benefits for our region’s young people from grades 1-12. Not only will those who participate gain from the physical fitness standpoint, but the academy will also be geared toward taking pride in your community and learning about a variety of educational topics like safety.

We applaud the efforts of all those who have put the plan in motion to provide a fun alternative for getting into shape, learning and building bonds with other young people from throughout the Tri-State.

Creating or continuing efforts like these to teach our children to take pride in what we call home will benefit all of us in the future as these young people become the leaders of our communities.