What can we do with our free-range teens?

Residents, police officers and local government officials are noticing a troubling trend in many South Shore communities: destruction caused by teenagers. The problems range from graffiti on buildings to broken beer bottles on streets and sidewalks to damaged cars and homes. The teenagers often roam in groups as large as 20, 30 or even 50.

In Valley Stream, several teens broke into one of the high schools during the early-morning hours and spray-painted graffiti in a staircase. Police and school officials suspect teenagers because of surveillance footage and messages spray-painted inside the school that were targeted at staff.

East Rockaway, Lynbrook and Hewlett residents recently came to an East Rockaway village board meeting to express their outrage over large groups of teenagers roaming the streets and leaving a path of destruction, including broken fences and vandalized homes.

Perhaps the largest act of destruction recently was in West Hempstead, where teenagers playing with fire behind the George Washington Elementary School lit up a wing of the building. They set papers on fire and threw an aerosol can into the flames, igniting a wooden section of the school.

This kind of behavior can’t just be passed off as teenagers being teenagers. It is unacceptable, and it is time for communities to take a serious look at why it is happening.

Do teenagers have enough to do in their communities? There are many programs available for young children and senior citizens in most of our towns, but teenagers are typically an underserved group. There are some programs offered by local libraries and youth councils, but very few, if any, are scheduled at the times that teens are out causing trouble.

The problems increase over the summer when kids don’t have homework, can stay out much later and like to be outdoors. It’s this time of year when those big groups of teens wander the streets.

Teenagers don’t like closely supervised activities, feeling that they get enough of that at school and at home. During their “time off,” most don’t want to take part in anything organized, and just want to hang out with their friends. That’s when, with few alternatives, especially at night, they take to the streets.

Hanging out doesn’t have to be a bad thing. That’s why it’s necessary to provide safe alternatives that keep the needs of teenagers in mind. We believe there are ways they can be supervised without feeling that their every move is being watched.
The solution needs to come from the community, but more important, it needs to come from the teenagers themselves.

They need to be a part of the discussion, and they need to be heard. Providing them a room with some board games simply isn’t going to work. They’re not going to show up. We are confident that a majority of teenagers are capable of coming up with reasonable ideas for safe, nondestructive activities. They need a place to talk, eat, drink coffee, play video games, shoot hoops, skate, listen to music.

Most of our communities have the resources to at least begin providing some simple alternatives. There are town and village pools, and parks with great recreational offerings. Many of these facilities have lights. Perhaps the additional cost of security to keep them open a little later would be a worthwhile investment to keep kids off the street while still giving them their coveted social time with friends.

Residents, police and government officials should get together and start to find ways to provide more for teenagers. Grass-roots movements have gotten a lot accomplished in the past. Communities need to determine the extent of the problem and try to come up with meaningful solutions — and make sure that teens will be a part of the process. If you build it, they will come — if they have input. They don’t want to be force-fed activities by adults.

If you don’t want kids on the streets, where do we tell them to go? It’s time we all started coming up with some answers.