For community leaders to connect with their younger constituents provides a number of benefits and has the potential to create a generation of actively involved citizens. Sadly, few officials either don’t understand this or don’t see its value.

That’s why Jim Thorpe Mayor Michael Sofranko deserves a round of applause for initiating a recent listening session among borough young people to find out what is on their minds about recreational possibilities and other activities.

The good news is that this was not a once-and-done event; there will be follow-ups, he said.

From all indications, the meeting that was attended by about 25 to 30 young people went better than expected.

The fact that they were willing to get together with the mayor and pass up a beautiful June night for a couple of hours showed their sincerity and interest. Sofranko was happy with the results, too, as he was peppered with a number of suggestions for projects that would be of interest.

The mayor said he came up with the idea because in discussions about what’s best for the community, few bother to ask its young people their thoughts and concerns. He laid out his idea for the listening session, which was approved and encouraged by members of the borough council.

Adults were present at the listening session, and as adults are at times prone to do, they started to do most of the talking.

Sofranko politely told them that while he values their input he was there to listen to the kids.

As an example of the many ideas that were advanced, two cited by Sofranko were a splash pad and a BMX track for dirt bikes. As you might imagine, with the intricacies of government and concern about liability in our litigious society, one doesn’t snap his or her fingers and suddenly things happen.

In researching the splash pad, for example, Sofranko found that a lifeguard is needed, as unbelievable as that sounds.

With the difficulty of many facilities to get enough lifeguards to staff their pools, lakes, etc., such a task would not be an easy one to solve, but Sofranko said it’s not being dismissed. Maybe there are alternatives, he said.

If there’s a good idea, and it’s humanly possible to pull off with the constraints of the borough’s budget or through the availability of other sources of funding, including grants, the idea will remain on the table.

Other ideas included a skate park, pool, rock wall, zip line and indoor arcade.

Sofranko said he was very pleased with the number of ideas that were presented at the listening session, then added to by written suggestions he received afterward.

Sofranko said coordination with three community groups will be an important way to try to get things done.

“We’ll go over the ideas presented and list those that we definitely want to pursue, those that are possibilities and those which are beyond our means,’’ he said.

I find Sofranko’s idea to be so refreshing and promising that I am recommending that other communities adopt it, too, but I am happy to report that Sofranko is a step ahead of me.

He spoke about the listening session at the most recent get-together of the Mayors Association of Carbon County and was pleased that at least three mayors showed interest in initiating similar ideas in their boroughs.

For Sofranko, one of the most interesting take-aways is the realization that kids want to be outside, not always glued to their phones and device screens playing computer games and the like indoors.

“And that impresses me, because we hear so often how kids just want to be on their phones, and while that s the case for some, it doesn’t speak for all of them,” Sofranko said.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.