As I write this, 59 percent of you who have responded to our recent question of the day n “Will the city hiring a Youth Services Coordinator be effective in lowering youth violence?” n have answered ‘no’ or that ‘law enforcement, not more money, is the answer.’

I have to say I agree with them.

We can’t just keep throwing money at the problem and expect it to go away.

And opening more facilities for our youth won’t help much either. Only those children who are interested in Boys and Girls Clubs and other organized functions will attend.

Those without direction won’t set foot in the place, although they might hang out outside and cause trouble.

What’s this youth coordinator going to do anyway? I hope it isn’t shuffle a bunch of papers around and then tell us we have a problem.

We already know that, and we could save thousands of dollars by not hiring him or her.

All we know at this point is they will be seeking grant money. Hey, with all those employees in city hall, isn’t there some person who has some extra time on their hands who could be doing this? Why not delegate this job to them?

We don’t need to be spending any more money right now.

What we need is for some judge to throw the book at a couple of these thugs and let the others know what’s in store for them if the mess up.

Remember the documentary Scared Straight, where children teetering on the edge, those close to being sent away for their crimes or their actions, were taken into a prison and came face-to-face with hardened criminals? It seemed to work. Not all, but some of those kids got the message.

Maybe we need to have a couple of those in Suffolk who are living this life spend a night in jail, or at least visit the place to see what their future holds if they don’t straighten up.

I say scare the hell out of them. But once you do that, hold your ground, and if they screw up again, put them behind bars.

Forget about this “their too young” attitude that the bleeding-heart liberals have when it comes to these issues.

I believe in the old saying, “If you do the crime, you do the time.”

Forget about the youth coordinator. Its money spent unwisely.