By: Lisa M. Smith
African-American News&Issues

HOUSTON- Summer is over and it’s back to school time. Parents (including myself) are having to buy school supplies and clothes. Undoubtably, its an expensive task when you total up everything. A group of teens thought it would be a great idea to cut a hole through the roof of FootAction USA Shoe Store at Greenspoint Mall, and steal 16 pairs of Nike Air Jordan shoes. Any athletic shoe that goes for more than $100 is not worth a trip to jail. Young people want the shoes, but can’t afford them and will do anything to get them.
With time and age, the message will become clear. I used to wear Jordan’s, too. In fact, I was the first girl at my middle school to have them. It’s nothing more than a fashion statement, young people. My dad brought my last pair of Jordan’s at age 24, and that was only because I took my little brother to Sharpstown Mall at 6am to get the shoes for him. Now that I think about it, I should have taken that money and did something else with it. I ended up giving the shoes away about six months later because I felt I was too old to be walking around with them on.
Now, Nike has came out with the LeBron X Shoes. The base model is $180, but with personal add-ons they could reach $315. Before you go out and buy them, think of the things you could buy or do with $315. Seems like every week, the Air Jordan brand is producing a new pair of sneakers.
In essence, that’s close $1,000 a month on sneakers alone. Young people, think about the money that you are spending. In the end…its just not worth the trouble, your life nor jail time, if you steal them.