Teens hit summer break with nowhere left to go
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Teens seeking to socialize together in public this summer are discovering that their presence is often treated as a problem.
Why it matters: The decline of malls, cheap hangout spots and welcoming public spaces has left teenagers with few places to gather without money or access to a car, urban designers and youth researchers say.
State of play: With few options, teens have organized large gatherings in cities nationwide, which local officials have dubbed "teen takeovers."
- Some cities have responded with curfews aimed at keeping minors from gathering in public, although research shows they aren't effective.
- Others enforce "no unaccompanied minors" policies, which teen advocates say punish all young people for the actions of a few.
Zoom in: Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeir promised last week to investigate and prosecute whoever is organizing "teen takeovers."
- In May, the Tampa Police Department arrested 22 people between the ages of 12 and 21 at Curtis Hixon Park. Afterward, the city expanded its summer programming to provide teenagers with "safe, supervised" fun.
- A 17-year-old was shot during a teen gathering at Clearwater Beach. Authorities later said the alleged shooter drove from Haines City and that the incident stemmed from a preexisting dispute between two groups.
What they're saying: Chris Beardslee, a local defense attorney, pushed back against the "teen takeover" framing promoted by law enforcement.
- He told the Tampa Bay Times that he doesn't think teens show up to these gatherings to commit crimes, but that it only takes one bad actor to escalate a situation.
Between the lines: Many public spaces were not designed for teens — and some were built to discourage them.
- Vague anti-loitering laws can also give police an "open invitation" to "investigate teenagers for being teenagers," says Jeffrey Butts, a criminal justice professor.
- Standing around with friends can be interpreted very differently depending on who is doing it, Butts says.
- "It's America. There will always be racial disparities because the government and systems designed to protect public safety … are racially tinged."
Zoom out: Teens are increasingly asking why they lack third places — locations to hang out that are not work, school or home — that earlier generations took for granted.
- "We've been getting a lot of media inquiries about third places over the past year, and I would say the majority of those inquiries are student newspapers," Nate Storring, co-executive director of the Project for Public Spaces, tells Axios.
- "[Teens] know that they're feeling lonely. They do their own research and find out what a third place is, and then they're like, 'man, why don't I have one of those in my community?' So they're investigating."
The bottom line: "Stop treating teenagers like it's us and them," Storring says.
- "Treat them like people who have their own ideas... listen to them and talk to them in good faith about how to move forward, because they can be part of the solution."
Go deeper: Teen loneliness machine