Water Boys

A pair of reasons we are uniquely qualified to treat you.

Experience. Expertise.

Atlanta Gynecology & Obstetrics includes you in the healthcare Atlanta Gynecology & Obstetrics is uniquely equipped for empathy and understanding of women’s health. Our practice is comprised of decisions surrounding your birth experience. Women have been having babies for centuries — our physicians, midwives and nurse practitioners have worked as a team for years, guiding a diverse group of female physicians and nurse midwives — we share women along their birth journey. We meet you at the crossroads your perspective AND your experience. As a female owned business, of collaboration, choice, and safety. Our goal is for you to have we understand and appreciate the importance of women making the birth experience you’ve dreamed of — planning WITH you, decisions for the best interests of themselves and their families. not AT you, guiding you to the best birth possible.

Visit AtlantaGYNOB.com to learn more, or call to make an appointment!

Decatur Office 315 Winn Way Decatur, GA 30030 404.299.9724 Gwinnett Office 449 Pleasant Hill Rd, Suite 200 Lilburn, GA 30047 770.923.5033 City unveils advisory council recommendations for Atlanta’s young water sellers

By John Ruch

The City of Atlanta has unveiled the incentive part of its carrot-and-stick approach to dealing with youths – dubbed “water boys” – who sell bottled water on the streets. In August, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms released recommendations from a Youth Entrepreneurship Advisory Council on ways to steer youths into safe and legal ways to make money.

The report says that many youths are making $100 to $300 a day selling the water, so actual money-making has to be the core of an alternative program. And some youths will choose to continue selling water regardless, the report said.

“The main way to steer them away from selling [water] is to offer a more enticing alternative. In short, they need to be compensated for their time,” said the report, adding that alternatives will require “robust” partnerships with nonprofits, businesses and Atlanta Public Schools (APS), among others.

The administration will continue to work on the recommendations with such partners as Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency, and the jobs program WorkSource Atlanta. Anyone wanting to participate can email the city at youthentrepreneurship@ AtlantaGa.Gov. To see the full report, can be read at this link.

On the enforcement side, the Atlanta Police Department has begun cracking down on criminal activity by or related to watersellers after numerous attacks on motorists and a recent robbery of two youths in Buckhead by an older teen.

The advisory council’s report says it worked on principles of racial and economic equity — part of Bottoms’ overarching city policy goals — and the ideas that the youths themselves should have input on solutions that will benefit everyone in Atlanta. “Youth need support and opportunity, not punishment,” reads another principle.

The water-selling business

The report, based partly on interviews with water-sellers and APD officials, provides a variety of statistics and estimates about the street business.

An estimated average of 150 to 300 youths are selling water on city streets each day, the report says. Water-sellers range in age from 8 to 21 but are “typically” 12 to 16 years old. Most work in groups. Many are working during school hours, and some were not in school due to suspensions.

The business involves reselling bottled water that is typically purchased from stores near the sales sites. The youths typically enter the street to sell the water to drivers at traffic lights.

The youths report making $100 to $300 a day through sales or tips. Many are seeking money to support their households and were meeting basic living needs, though some were also raising “entrepreneurial resources” for start-up businesses or music studio time. A few said they would take a traditional job if it was offered, while many said they preferred working for themselves, according to the report.

Police response

The report notes that the water-selling is fundamentally illegal under city ordinances prohibiting vending without a license and obstructing traffic, and under state law prohibiting pedestrians from entering roadways. While that has sometimes been cited as a simple solution, the report said that APD interviewees “emphasized that a better approach should not depend on the police to solve the problem, nor should it be a police-led effort.”

With the popularity of the business, the report said, there is an increase in robberies where older youths steal the day’s earnings from younger ones.

From Jan. 1 through July 5, the report said, APD recorded 694 calls for service related to water-selling. More than 400 calls involved complaints about related behavior like “aggressive sale tactics,” obstructing traffic or an unwillingness to clean the sales area. Thirteen calls were reports of people with weapons. From all of those calls, there were 11 incidents of youths aged 17 or older being cited and arrested, and four incidents of minors cited and released to parents.

Since the release of the report, APD has begun a social media campaign urging drivers to not purchase water at intersections to dry up sales and get the youths off the streets. The APD campaign is also engaging with the water boys and reminding them that there are other opportunities available to them and their families such as the PAL (Police Athletic League) programs and the Atlanta Police Foundation’s At-Promise Centers that offer education, recreation, and workforce development resources.

Program recommendations

The report contains 13 recommendations elaborating ideas of overcoming inequities, conducting outreach, creating programming hubs, and partnering with APS.

On outreach, the city needs an “authentic, credible” approach and must gather more data about the youths, the report said. The city needs to recognize the “entrepreneurial energy” and have a campaign with the message, “We see you. We hear you. We support you.”

The report suggests using the city’s Centers of Hope after-school program as one to create hubs of programming for the youths and their families. It also suggests working with a nonprofit partner to create pipelines to jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as working with community leaders on “earn and learn” workshops. The city also must recognize that some youths will continue selling water on the streets and find ways to manage that safely, the report said.

Working with APS on similar programming is another recommendation. That would include identifying young entrepreneurs and developing a nontraditional business program for them; providing interactive, hands-on training in entrepreneurship; and providing stipends and other paid incentives for staying in such programs.