There is Nothing for Teens to Do Anymore!
My youngest daughter is 15, almost 16 years old. She is very social and has a sweet group of friends, who all live nearby. They get together a good bit on the weekends, and of course, and in the summer, it is GAME ON. They are teens, they want to hang out, be together, laugh and have a great time. But the problem is, there is hardly anywhere for them to go.
Where we live, on the Northshore, this is a considerable problem. It is a fantastic place to live and raise a family (hands down), but when it comes to those teen years, where they want a little independence, where can they go hang out? Each other’s house is the obvious answer, and they do that, and it’s great, but they are young humans, they want something to do, a place to go, something to be entertained, somewhere to look forward to going on the weekends.
In the 90’s…
When I was growing up, I remember multiple places we would go to as teens for some good clean fun, that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. I grew up on the Southshore, and it was certainly a different time growing up in the 90’s, but there were many outlets for teenagers to fulfill their social battery. We had a bowling alley, a skating rink, a Go-Cart track, a Putt Putt course, multiple movie theaters, and indoor mall with a food court, a kids dance club, and the most memorable … a Blockbuster (this in itself was a fun outing)! We certainly weren’t doing these things everyday or even every weekend; we were able to entertain ourselves at home as well, but it was nice to have some options to go sometimes to get out of the house and go have some entertainment outside of the home.
Today…
A typical weekend at my house with a teen daughter consists of her asking if her friends can hang out. They usually settle on someone’s house, and they get the itch to want to get out and do something, so they end up shopping at Target. The truth is, this isn’t a terrible option; they can get a Starbucks and walk around and shop for some skin care, bathing suits, etc. … but they cannot do this every day. We all know we can’t promote shopping as the only form of entertainment for these teens when they don’t even have jobs yet! As a matter of fact, some teenagers have been getting into some trouble at Target lately because they are running around, playing around, and causing some mischief in the Target aisles (scavenger hunts?). And while I don’t condone that behavior, I do sympathize with the fact that they are bored and looking for some fun. But where?
In Her Dating Era
We have also entered the “dating era,” and again this conversation comes up every weekend. Where can a nice young man take his little lady on a date around here? Sure, a restaurant to grab a bite to eat, but again, they can’t do this every day, it gets expensive, and let’s face it, there must be more to dating then just getting food. They would love to have a place to go to be together, doing an activity together, enjoying each other’s company, besides sitting at the house. I love that my daughter and her boyfriend hang out with my husband and me at our home. We all sit together and chat, they bake cookies together, go for walks around the neighborhood. They make it work, and I love having them around, but let’s face it, we were all teenagers once. They want to hang out with other teenagers, NOT discussing with their 90’s parents how much we didn’t understand Kendrick Lamar’s half time show. I get it. We are not exactly cool anymore (to them)!
A Few Options
Living on the Northshore does have an incredible feature that is not to be forgotten and that is on the beautiful lakefront. This has been a constant in our life as well as our teenager’s life. We have had many birthday parties, photoshoots, lazy Sunday afternoons, driving practice, exercise walks, brunch, swinging at the park, and simply taking in the beauty of this spectacular view. The lakefront is definitely a front runner of a place to go hang out that doesn’t cost any money and can give you hours of simple entertainment. Our teens are lucky to have this area to retrieve to when they want to enjoy what nature has to offer.
Of course, we have a plethora of restaurants for the occasional meal out, and you can shop till you drop at all of our unique shops and boutiques. Getting ice cream, smoothies, teas, or snowballs are all quick and easy outings for teens, as well as watching younger siblings play sports at the local recreational center!
Give Them Grace
Teens will get creative and come up with things to do; there can be good clean fun anywhere if you try. Being bored isn’t the worst thing, that is when some of the best memories are made. However, it would be nice if there were just a few options around town to help them out. I will never forget walking the mall with my girlfriends, flirting at the bowling alley, holding hands while skating, taking 2 hours to pick out a movie at Blockbuster, trying (with no luck) to beat my friends at miniature golf, etc. Those were the days! So, until so a millionaire opens up a ‘teen complex of fun’ on the Northshore, we will continue to see our teens living it up at Target and Chick Fil A … give them some grace, it’s all they have!
