Honestly, isn't barbed-wire a bit much?

I live in a teeny, tiny town. There’s honestly less than 350 people that live within the limits. Of that, the majority of the population is over the age of 45. There are maybe forty to fifty of us within the village limits who are under 21. Most of the under-21 crowd is 12 and under; about 10-15 of us are over the age of 13. Barely any of us have driver’s licenses or, if we’re able to drive, we don’t have a car that we can drive all of the time. Even if we do have our own car, with a license, most of us have sibling chauffeur duty, so we’re stuck carting them around to their appointments. That’s if our parents even want to let us drive, what with gas hitting $4.00 a gallon and the economy still going down faster than your average starlet after a few drinks (the vomiting included)…

But we’re going to play pretend for a moment. Let’s pretend that I, a seventeen-year-old with no car, job, or desire to drive, suddenly have the ability to go out for a Friday night. Where would I go?

I can’t go to the mall… They stop kids (18 and under) from entering during school hours, and on Fridays, minors can’t be in the mall without parental (no 18+ friends, the adult has to be someone in a real authority position) supervision after 5:00PM. This, of course, has no effect on the kids with jobs at the mall… But it does have effects on me, the girl in the corner who looks thirteen when she’s almost legal.

I can’t go hang out at the park… That’s basically asking for trouble! In my little town, my friend and I actually got the cops called on us for sitting up in the pavilion. The cops treated us like we were scum. Why? Because they had had people call in saying that there were two kids – a boy and a girl – sitting up there, smoking weed. Okay then, park = weed.

I can’t just walk the streets with my friends, because the curfew is basically dark. Regardless. Oh, yeah, and if you’re carrying anything, the cop stalks you. It’s kind of creepy.

I can’t really do any community service in my town, because if I try, the older adults will think I’m trying to jump them for drug money.

The movies are super-expensive, and there’s nothing good on anymore. The lakes around here are closed constantly because of contamination. Anyone playing “loud” music gets the cops called on them…

We’re restless. My generation isn’t used to sitting still, per say – we’re a social bunch. I want to hang out with my friends more often, but what is there to do? All of the spots to hang out are either closed to us past a certain time, or just taboo to chill in.

Here’s my suggestion: if adults want us to stop being “destructive”, give us somewhere to roam. One minute I’m hearing “You’re going to be an adult, you’ll have to do this on your own”, and the next it’s, “You’re so immature, so childish”… If you want us to stop messing up life, stop playing us like we’re ignorant. Let us sit up at the park without being terrified that someone’s gonna come up to us and accuse us of doing pot. Let us have a little space to ourselves. Everyone bumps heads and elbows, and not everyone gets along, but just because we’re younger doesn’t mean we don’t exist any less. I’m not asking for the law to look the other way when one kid tries to harm, but for Pete’s sake, why does it matter if we’re not inside our houses by 8:01 on Halloween?

It’s the natural way of life: we’re sent to try you. Teenagers are nature’s way of reminding grown ups that everyone’s young and stupid at some point, and we all have our urges, and sometimes it’s best to let them out.

But if we’re all chained up, there’s no way to get free but violence.