Feed children instead of training them for war

[JLM1991]

Exactly this. Cadets was my escape from a pretty shitty home life and it gave me something to get through the week for.

I owe where I am today to the Cadet program. I probably would be in jail or dead if it weren't for having a place to belong as a 12-18 year old.

This is true for a lot of youth from super troubled backgrounds. They do often get sucked into gangs and heavy drug use because it's somewhere they can fit in and belong. I'm glad cadets gave you another path,one that kept you away from all that. My niece is a fentanyl addict and it's slowly killing her. She started when she was about sixteen years old (she's in her early 20's now). Had she gone into a program like cadets I suspect the reality for her would be quite different, but unfortunately she was easily able to go down the bad path since she was barely parented. I love my step-sister, but she was never a good parent.