Maybe they can go to the malt shop later? And then the sock hop?
My son and his friends used to hang out at the teen center when they were in JR high. Mid 2000s.
“After that, let’s met up at the malt shop, listen to some doo-wop songs on the jukebox, and go see a movie at the drive-in.”
Dude, I fucking hate people. Drive-ins ftw, I don’t need to hear about how Rebecca on the 7th floor is such a bitch for sucking Andrew in the break room when she knew that Elix (spelled with a silent k) wanted him first, and the group of four are all on Instagram and Facebook starting drama, on their phones, in light mode, with no end in sight as the movie is about to start.
When me and my best friend still went to the movies, we’d always have this kind of shit happen, and we had a routine where one of us would loudly start talking about how we didn’t think dinner was settling right and we might shit ourselves, or retelling how a couple rows down (where the annoying people are at) is about where my ex blew me and the mess was still there last time we checked, or we’d just start letting out some (not so) silent-but-deadly farts. Whatever it took to make sure the movie was enjoyable, we’d go pretty far with things, but it worked 100% of the time, the group would always move away.
Not having to do that, having the a/c exactly as we want it, the volume at the level we want it, would be so much better. Really, less interaction with people in general would be a wonderful thing…
We should bring all of that back. Well, maybe not the doo-wop.
why not the doo wop? i love doo wop. im the wanderer i roam around around around
What if we had a modern spin on it called new wop?
Q-wop? It’s a new crazy dance, it involves mostly falling on The floor, flailing your legs about
went to teen center in the 80’s. Its not that old. I bet they are more prevalent in cities.
Maybe. In the late 00s-early 10s we had places like that in the suburbs I grew up in, but there was no appeal to them. Mind you my friends were stoners. We were all more of the discussing life and ideas in a public park sort. What I really wanted was a park that didn’t kick you out at night. We still went, but if you’re already hiding from the cops why not bring a beer.
oh yeah loads of teens did not go to the teen center in my day. It was a loser place but me and my friends were the uncool types that went there. free pool, arcade game or two, some other stuff. not like we went every weekend though.
Yeah we weren’t cool either, but we were the kind of uncool that doesn’t go to such places. I guess we were a little cool, considering we were the kids who’d have bonfires and shit and stay up all night
I would say staying up with bonfires probably put you pretty high on the cool meter. What was the percent participation with academic or fine arts clubs within your group? That was a pretty good gauge of uncoolness in my time.
Marching band for two years before I quit to get an internship at an engineering firm. The real problem was I was socially awkward and weird and spent the first half of the time weird looking.
A small city close to me has one, it looks like it’s relatively successful too. They have an active Instagram and are open after school pretty much every day.
My home town had one, last I was there. So for sure 2010.
40 years
yeah its been awhile since I was a teen. Another bloke said one existed for him 2010 though so we are down to a decade or so depending on location.
We have a teen center where I live currently.
Same, although they call it a Youth Center. Publicly funded spot where I guess things happen although I’ve only ever been there to unvote.
None for me, I am going to the box social later today.
Is this suggesting alternatives to doing drugs?
Drinking alcohol. After saying “‘just say no’ may not be enough” or something like that.
All of the suggestions are things kids could just bring alcohol to anyway lol
Ah they failed to include the best trick “nah I’ll drive” it doesn’t keep your friends sober but it does keep them alive.
It’s a health textbook, of course it’s stuck in the 1950’s
When I was in middle school around 1990, my family lived in military base housing, and there was a “teen center”. It had a TV, stereo system, some arcade games¹, and a snack bar. It hosted dances on weekends; with one night designated for the middle-school crowd and one for the high-school crowd.
¹ “Red wizard shot the food!”
There’s a teen center 2 minutes from my house. Is it not normal to have a teen center?
They don’t really exist anymore. 3rd places have more or less been killed off.
You must now own a car and pay money to exist somewhere, at all times.
And very soon it will be a felony to be homeless!
We have 8 animals and alcoholic relative living with us.
We went to the local library, I had ear buds and my laptop as was content to do my thing (cyber security stuff, all legal) and my wife was busy talking to the person running the 3D printer because she can’t seem to dial hers in settings wise.
The quiet, the lack of stress, the ability to just focus on something without dealing with an issue for a while…
It was fine until the relative… well, thats another story. They all end like that lately.
Teen centers are in suburbs, for that exact reason. I think everyone saying “teen centers don’t exist” just don’t live in suburbs, nor have teenagers lol
The closest thing I’ve ever seen to a teen center was a sports facility that had a room for kids and teens to hang out, but that was closer to a babysitting service. Paired with the facts that you had to pay monthly membership dues ($25 to $100/mo these days, apparently) and the whole facility was meant for something else entirely, it’s not something I would first describe as a teen center. Not any more than I’d call a high school a chemical R&D facility just because of its chemistry classroom.
Outside of that one room, I’m not aware of anything else nearby me that would be even remotely similar.
TV makes it seem normal, but I’ve never seen one IRL. But then, I’ve also never seen a school that is entirely inside a single building or has multiple floors, either. And I’m sure those exist somewhere.
I live in Germany and not once in my life have I seen a school that doesn’t have multiple floors.
I live in the US and I have never went to a school with only one floor.
Weird. All my schools had a bunch of single story classrooms you walk between. Nice to get some sunshine between classes
Back when I was in school, it was a few single story buildings and then a trailer park of more classrooms.
I went to a school that is one multi story building. It’s not a big school though which may be why. Highly populated area probably don’t see things like that anymore .
They seem to be more of thing in other states, especially the East Coast and Midwest. I grew up in earthquake territory along the San Andreas fault and most schools here are just a collection of “temporary” double wide trailers that are individual class rooms.
Funny, it feels like half of schools in Denmark are in multi-floor buildings, especially city schools.
I know of at least two in the city that I regular pass by. I had no idea this was even a thing around the rest of the world. Never heard of anyone talking about them on the internet until today.
What even is a teen center ?
Ours had a big TV for movie night, a snack bar, a Nintendo room, and an arcade in the basement. It was built in the mid nineties, and is still there, though I haven’t been inside since then. It’s probably all updated.
Updated to a Nintendo 64 room
With limp analog sticks.
Same. Mine also had punk concerts occasionally.
It’s kind of like a library but not that many books, more condoms and snacks, often a projector and screen for movie Nights, and access to Community Resources like food banks and clothing places and counseling for gay people and stuff
Yeah, communist shit. /s
Sounds like family planning ? At least ours is kinda like that ! (I’m French)
“Condoms and snacks”? I think you’re thinking of the teen pregnancy center.
That’s actually my library.
They’re thinking of Regina George’s house
Rofl I never watched that movie but that’s hilarious
All that stuff sounds very smashable for instagram likes. Of course, “it’s just a prank bro”.
My public library has one and has a bunch of teen books, manga, video games, board games, they just got some arcade machines, and they got some 3d printers. They got events going on from time to time for the kids as well.
Libraries is literally the Atlas image holding up the last vestiges of community.
I fucking love libraries
I agree except I wish they all had huge bean bags, to make reading & studying more comfortable. I hate sitting in chairs.
I’m not sure, but I suspect it’s where they have malt shakes and ice cream socials, and dance the jitterbug to the Big Bopper.
In the 90s, original teen center in my neighborhood was the YMCA or rec center. The adults complained and restricted a lot of the access to “teens with parents”. Malls were kinda popular. But so was the nearest game store or comic store.
In the 2000s-2010s, it was coffee shops. But you had to pay to be inside.
The new “teen center” in my neighborhood was the library. Quality place.
My small town (<3000) had one in the 90s, we had a dance floor with music Friday and Saturday nights, a projector for movies and a concession stand, and a mini golf course downstairs. In my later teens I helped convert an unused part of the second story into a haunted house/maze for Halloween.
The building was originally a warehouse built back when the town had industry around the turn of the 20th century. It was brick built so still in great shape even today and it’s been abandoned again for 20 years now
It sounded great and you guys put a lot of work into that, why has it been abandoned for 20 years?
The town has just continued to decline, nearly everyone is either desperately poor, broken by their jobs so they can’t do anything or they’ll lose disability, on hardcore drugs, or so old/senile they can’t contribute to the community.
Nearest decent job and grocery stores being 45+ minutes didn’t help things. A few generations and it’ll be completely gone. I, like most capable children of these type of towns, fled to the city as soon as I was capable in search of a better life. Otherwise I’d break my back in manual labor and develop opioid addiction, or have my job replaced by automation and develop opioid addiction. Tis the fate of America’s rural Midwest
Back in the late 1800s-early 1900s the town counted over 60,000, by the early 90s around 3k was being generous with city borders and census counts. I honestly think they just stopped updating the sign to stave off depression and save money
Its different from a teen left-justify
Gah I really didn’t expect to get CSS-triggered on this thread
The teen center was shut down after “The Incident”.
Sounds like story time…
Care to elaborate?
“The spaghetti incident”
Have you heard? They got one of those “computer” things there now. I don’t think they are going to catch on, so we should check it out as long as it’s there.
Converting drunkards into geeks. Nice
I graduated in 2013 and we had a teen center, it’s still a thing. I assume as long as theirs teens there will be adults wanting to get them off the streets
Sorry to burst your bubble but Teen Centers are a thing since always. My high school had one until someone burned it down in 2015.
Keep going on about how these evil grownups just don’t understand you though, commenters. CRAWLING IN MY SKIIIIN
They CAN be, depending on the area. My local neighborhood doesn’t have one, and there isn’t anything like that within the area of the city I’m in. “Third places” where you can just hang out with no expectations on you to purchase things or otherwise interact with that place’s services are rapidly disappearing in the US.
The economy demands that we consume and spend money.
With children going back to work, watch as playgrounds start to disappear. Those children have money and can spend it to further the all consuming economy.
And yet when I give the same suggestion to my friends they all call me a perv
Is it because you’re in your 40s?
