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You've, no doubt, heard about the ruckus caused following social media posts from a local business concerning what appeared to be a small group of area teens parking at a local commercial plaza.
It's not something we really touched upon in our news pages this week, but I would like to discuss it some here, as this is a multi-layered, and delicate, situation which needs to be considered for the future of the community.
The business made some, I'll say crude, social media posts concerning the group of teens. I won't get into whether this business was correct in its actions, because, right or wrong, it helped to raise the bigger issue at hand.
The community responded to those posts, first by a much larger group of teens (and a few parents) gathering in the same parking lot a couple of nights later, posting photos and video on social media as a sign of support for the youth of Weirton.
Soon after, another local business stepped forward and offered to host a tailgating event for the teens, with themselves, their staff and other businesses purchasing and donating cases of wings to give to the teens if they wanted to come and hang out in their parking lot. That event took place Thursday night. I wasn't able to attend because of other assignments, but from the photos and commentary I've seen and read, it seemed to go well.
While all of this was being planned, Weirton Police sent out a notice on Wednesday, informing the public of its duties under the law concerning trespassing on private property and damage to said property. It appears police were contacted by the property owner of the commercial plaza where the initial gathering took place with concerns. For the record, I've seen pictured of "doughnuts" tire marks in that same parking lot, although I don't know when they were done.
All of this to say, there is an issue for all of us to be concerned about. We've heard for years there is nothing for our youth to do in the community. This is just one more sign.
During the school year, many have clubs, sports and other activities to take up their time in the afternoons and weekends. Many have jobs throughout the year. But, there are still those down hours when they just want to go out and spend some time with their friends.
Back in the olden days, when I was their age, we had a robust shopping mall in Steubenville, with a multi-screen movie theater, an arcade, food and retail establishments and more. Weirton had its own single-screen movie theater, which, thankfully is still around after going through a few ownership changes.
Robinson Township hadn't been nearly as developed as it is today. There was no Highlands development in Wheeling.
Even then, though, my peers found ways to hang out and blow off some steam. I'm not saying there wasn't any kind of mischief taking place. I'm sure there were more than a few laws broken at one time or another, but, of course, we didn't have social media back then to bring it to everyone's attention.
There is a great deal of focus on ways to redevelop our communities, and better prepare them for the future. We have entrepreneurs and developers working to bring in new businesses. We have tourism officials looking to create new activities and attractions to draw residents and visitors alike. Those in recreation are constantly searching for new opportunities for our local parks. Having sat through many of the meetings focused on planning for the future, I've noticed a trend.
Many of our current adults, are asking for things they enjoy. If they are parents, they look for things their kids (often the younger kids) like. But what about the youth themselves? They need to have a voice in this process, too. Is there a recreational (preferably legal) activity they would like to see in our community? What kind of businesses do they want to see here? What would they prefer to do besides hanging out in a parking lot?
I'm offering a bit of a challenge to our youth, in particular our teens. Reach out to those involved, whether it be your council representative, county commissioners, school board members, school principals or a business owner you know. You can even send me an email if you would like, and I'll do what I can to get it to some of the appropriate people. If enough reach out, it might even be interesting to put together a followup column based on those responses.
Our youth are our future. We need to remember that when we are making all these plans for what the community will be in the next few decades.
(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter @CHowellWDT)