I believe that teenagers are the way that they are today because society no longer caters to them. Years ago teens were able to spend time with their friends in shopping malls, roller skating rinks, and diners. A lot of those types of places don’t exist anymore, or are limited in numbers, are run down, overpriced, or are unwelcoming to teenagers. The laws limiting when and with who teenagers can drive is also extremely frustrating. It is for reasons like this that teens turn to unsafe and/or unhealthy alternatives to having fun. 

Malls, once a playground for teenagers, are now just a sad place to find a few businesses and maybe an Auntie Anne’s. I’ve tried to go to malls recently with friends and it’s incredibly boring and feels like a graveyard. The only not-boring mall nearby is Crossgates, which doesn’t even allow teenagers to visit unattended. 

Movie theaters would be a hotspot for young adults, but they are way too overpriced. The last movie I saw cost me $35 for one ticket, a small popcorn, and a drink. Most teens make minimum wage, and that is way too much for a movie. Movie theaters, like malls, are also kind of dead nowadays. But if they weren’t so expensive, they would be a fun and safe place for teens to go, and the theaters would thrive. I do understand that most of this is due to inflation, but that is just another contributor to an even larger problem; fun in general being too expensive. But Trump’s new tariff on films made outside of America will only make matters worse, and probably put movie theaters out of business for good, making fun for teens even less accessible. 

Even places that are accessible to teenagers aren’t always welcome to them. I have been a victim of age discrimination too many times in my life. People assume that all teenagers are stupid, disrespectful, messy, and only there to cause trouble. This is simply not the case. Yes, there are bad teenagers, but there are bad adults too. The adults don ‘t even have an excuse because their brains are fully developed, unlike ours. I’ve seen waitresses neglect tables that are teen-only because they assume we won’t tip well. But we will most likely tip better than older generations because we understand what it’s like to work those kinds of jobs in recent times, and not always get treated with respect. Businesses need to be more teen friendly. They’re missing out on an entire generation of customers. 

I know that driving laws are placed for a reason and are there for safety purposes, and I do encourage that everyone does follow those laws. But, that does not mean that I cannot be frustrated by them. The fact that teens can’t drive a group of teens severely limits their abilities to go out. Not everyone has their license, access to a car, or a parent/guardian available to taxi them around all the time. Not being able to carpool with other teens is the cherry on top. It’s like lawmakers want us to stay at home and do nothing. Not being able to drive after 9pm is also hindering, especially for teenagers in communities like Galway, who live out of the way of everything. You might have to leave a place at 8pm just to get home in time. Mind you, 8pm in the dead of summer is still light out. Doing things like going to the movies or to grab dinner are so much more fun at night, and this doesn’t allow any of it. 

All of these contributors lead to why teenagers are the way they are. Society doesn’t let us have safe and healthy fun, so we find other ways. For some that means, doing drugs, partying, and other illegal activities. For others like me, it means spending a lot of time sitting in my room binging Netflix or scrolling TikTok. There’s nothing worth going out for, so why bother? If the world wants their teenagers to be “good” and have fun, they need to set up a society that allows it. We had it 20-30 years ago, but it doesn’t exist anymore, and it’s not the teenagers fault.