Teen Center

Shelby Barker's picture

Dear kitten friend,
I ask you to look at all the things that the Youth Council has done for this community from; raking senior’s yard, cleaning up an old grave site, singing at the nursing home etc... Etc... We have done so much for the community and now when we cry out for help, and fight through all of the nay Sayers what do we see on the other side????? Nothing but more nay sayers.....

I promise you this is the last time I will comment on the subject unless I am asked a certain question. But I’d like to remind ever person out there that a youth center is not the adult’s idea, but rather the idea of the young. It is an idea that has been proposed by a group of teenagers that have done nothing but help this community for three years. It has been proposed not by a bunch of old men on a panel but rather by the very people that will utilize it's rooms.

The teens that proposed this have fought hard to put on other successful events such as battle of the bands, dodge ball tournaments, halo tournaments etc... These kids know how to appeal to their friends; they are in the trenches everyday. Where do the adults get the fortitude to say what the teenagers want and don't want when they have never asked one themselves? Why is it when the youth council (a city ran organization) came and asked for money from city council for the first battle of the bands, were we denied?

We have always been told to "form a group, be productive, help the community, fight for what is right etc..." but when we ask for help, when the teenagers ask for the support of the adults, the adults just turn the other way and say "IT WONT WORK", "NO ONE WILL COME", "IT WILL ONLY CAUSE MORE PROBLEMS" and my favorite "TEENS DON'T WONT THIS". Well I have news for you IT WILL WORK, it has worked through other events we have put on and in other cities. People will come because they are asking for it, plus the city can use the facility for other rec events. AND TEENS DO WANT THIS just ask them if they are bored, I am a teen, these are teens proposing the center, teens are the ones struggling against nay sayers to make this work. THEY DO WANT IT...

When we first started the Youth Council everyone said that it would go down in flames just like the one before it did. But we figured out that if you let teenagers set their own agenda, plan their own events, select their own community projects with little or no adult help it can be successful. As I said before these guys have done so much to help the community and have done NOTHING for themselves. Some may say things like the Battle of the Bands benefited the Youth Council but in all reality the Youth Council is the one having to staff it. Look at every successful event, look at every community project, look at all these guys have done successfully with little or no adult help. They were big players in making the golf cart driving age 15, big players in bringing the minor league basketball team here, they put on an annual Halloween party for elementary kids, and the list just keeps going....

I am willing to bet the majority of us haven’t done this much stuff in a life time let alone three years, and the best part was all of this was the teens own ideas.

Now be an adult and listen to the young adults when they ask you to support something they support themselves. They want a youth center for this community, and they can't do it with out our help....

Thank you
Shelby Barker
(Former PTCYC President)

email------Shelbybarker@gmail.com

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Leoah Whineknott's picture
Submitted by Leoah Whineknott on Wed, 02/15/2006 - 1:29am.

Oh, stop it, Dan. Everyone agrees that kids are more important than dogs. You can’t compare a dog park to a teen center. We have SERIOUS problems with our youth and no matter what we do to help, they respond by informing us that they wouldn’t have so many problems if they weren’t bored.

I don’t appreciate people trivializing tragedies in our community by blaming a lack of entertainment or a lack or government intervention as the reason teens have so many problems. I also don’t appreciate the insinuation that our community has long neglected our teens when they thumb their noses at the many opportunities we have given them.

Shelby tells us that we should respond to their “quiet cries for help through drugs, violence and sex” by giving them a “place of their own” where they can “hang out away from their parents.” They want “little or no” help in planning their events. And they want to call all the shots without having a “bunch of old men” making decisions.

When I hear kids demanding the City to build a teen center to keep them out of trouble because they are bored, it tells me: 1) They aren’t accepting responsibility for their own actions 2) They don’t appreciate the boundless opportunities they already have and 3) They haven’t learned anything about the effects of peer pressure and egotism from the historic tragedies and experiences of their peers.

Shelby may be passionate about trying to help the youth, but he is approaching this in a typical adolescent manner. The solution he offers is short-sighted and self-gratifying. He assumes that boredom is the root of all teen problems. He assumes that kids won’t be bored if we build a place for them to hang out. He assumes that just because the answer is “no” that we must not be “acting like adults and listening” to him, or that we haven’t asked our own teens what they want. He overlooks the fact that we have been through this a zillion times already. He assumes that Jitterbugs, Puzzles, Blueberry Hill and all the other teen ventures failed because the kids didn’t get involved in planning or they didn’t ask for it. He won’t listen when we tell him that teen centers didn’t work in the past and they won’t work now because >>>> NEWSFLASH: Teens don’t want supervision, rules, or boundaries.>>>>

Leoah Whineknott


Submitted by pandora on Wed, 02/15/2006 - 6:57am.

Leoah- here! here! (I forgot all about puzzles - After Deck was the catastrophic attempt in the location Dan originally suggested in Aberdeen Center)

Shelby - hear! hear! you ask the adults to listen to teens. We ask you to listen to us, to experience. These things don't work when privately funded. Many of us don't support taking on the liability of a proven problem causer with our tax dollars. If you are planning to follow in your step-father's footsteps and run for office, good for you. You seem to represent the best in what our youth can be. But you can't just crusade for one issue, ramming it through while ignoring the experience and opinions of everyone who disagrees. We just got rid of that kind of disasterous non-leadership, by 70%.

Putting on the occasional successful event, with a set times and a specific entertainment or activity, doesn't compare to what you're proposing. Instead, set up some examples of "hanging out" programs in existing, non-dedicated facilities. If kids don't like the Library teen room, put a group together to figure out how to make it more teen-friendly. Or pick another location and get some equipment and furnishings donated. Show us teens will show up to hang out, with supervision, and not cause problems. Until that happens, building or renting space, or "dedicating" existing space to that sole purpose, just isn't practical.

Submitted by Reality Bytes on Wed, 02/15/2006 - 7:03am.

So, when there are THOUSANDS of teens (at least 5,000) in PTC, and less than 400 show up to the Battle of the Bands, that's a success? The occassional dodgeball tournament that brings in 150-200 people? Please....

Pandora's prompt makes perfect sense - give us a reason to build a facility. Otherwise, get a job, play sports, do your homework and stop trying to "find yourselves".

Parents - wake up and do your jobs. Your kids are bored - give them something to do, so they'll stop doing stupid things.

Submitted by The Youth Council on Wed, 02/15/2006 - 10:20am.

There are approx 20,000 adults in PTC and the average attendace at an Amphitheater Concert is 1800, I guess that's not a success either?

Starr's Mill offered a drug awareness meeting for parents last year and ony one parent showed up. Success?

Booth Middle School had a meeting with parents last week about Computers, MySpace and online predators. The school has 1,100 students and approx 50 parents showed up. Success?

In 2005 we didn't have a Battle of the Bands anyway, we had a spotlight concert called SummerJam with approx 700 youth. Prior to 2003 (before The Youth Council was formed) there weren't any events for youth at the amphitheater, so wouldn't you say that is success? Since there was absolutely nothing a few years ago?

Also, we had to offer the concert on the Saturday right before school started, because of the Amphitheater schedule, and also because of Honestly and Cartel's national touring schedule.

If any adults would like to volunteer their time and services, or if they would like to present their potentially successful ideas, please attend our next youth council meeting on Tuesday March 7th at the McIntosh High School Cafeteria at 6:30pm or visit our website www.TheYouthCouncil.com

The truth is many adults don't truly know many of the positive things that the youth council has done and will continue to do.

This isn't a group of stubborn teens that refuse to listen adults, the door is always open for adults to help organize and attend events. But so far in this community of many, only one adult resident has helped the youth council on a regular basis. And at every meeting she is welcomed with open arms.

The Youth Council is offering Teen Nights at the Kedron Fieldhouse, and the participation in those Teen Nights should show the community if a Teen Center is needed or not. The Youth Council has not endorsed or voted for a Teen Center, because they want to see if teens show an interest in the "Teen Nights" first.

And parents FYI the "Teen Night" concept isn't lounging around on a couch, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. It's Swimming, Trivia, Ping Pong, Foosball, Video Games, Volleyball, Basketball, Dodgeball, Music, Guitar Playing, Socializing etc...

The first "Teen Night" is scheduled for Friday March 17th and more info will be added soon.

We have also started a "Teen Center" survey, so feel free to share your opinions regarding a Teen Center on our web site.

Art Sivertsen
770 486-3936
www.TheYouthCouncil.com

DanTennant's picture
Submitted by DanTennant on Tue, 02/14/2006 - 8:57am.

Dear Mayor and Members of Council,

I am writing to ask for some help on something that has been neglected in town for too long.

As a former councilman, I know the difficult job you have, believe me. You spend a tremendous amount of time trying to make this city run efficiently and effectively and you still manage to make somebody angry on virtually every vote! At least you get the big bucks for the mostly thankless job you do.

Well, I am here to say thank you no matter the level of help I get on an issue that is very near and dear to me, and that is the idea of a teen center. I don't even have a teen in my house, but I have two young sons, and a son, Joe, in heaven who died of an asthma attack when he was a teen nearly nine years ago. Maybe, it's Joe that is telling me to help make a teen center a reality in PTC.

Much has been said on the subject over the years, but little if anything has been accomplished. My stepson, Shelby Barker, is a former chairman of the Peachtree City Youth Council, and is a very vocal proponent of a teen center. So far, he hasn't gotten much support because he is young and sort of brash. But he's also very passionate about this, which I greatly respect and admire. Remember, Shelby has no dog in this fight. He has nothing to gain, as he will be out of his teens in a few short months. He's working full-time and going to school full-time, but he certainly knows the value of a teen center.

Mayor and council members, I am here to tell you the time is NOW to act. I understand that money is tight, and I also understand that teens don't vote, but there is NOTHING more important in your job as an elected leader of this fantastic city than to promote the health and welfare of its citizens. We have a wonderful recreation program, we have many churches which offer youth programs, and we have cart paths for the teens to use. But they don't have a place of their own, and that needs to change. There is an enormous void to provide for those who are not involved in sports or church groups as well as those who are.

The thinking has to change. It's all about making an investment in our kids, not spewing out money for a worthless cause, as some would have you believe. We have a wonderful senior citizens center at the Gathering Place. Of course, older folks vote, and we all know that. But heck, we also have a Dog Park, and to my knowledge they don't vote, yet they mustered the political muscle to get a place of their own.

Kids are more important than dogs.

Yet we need not reinvent the wheel. We can transfer resources from the Kedron Field House to the Teen Center. We can have a successful collaboration of city government and volunteers to ensure the teens have a safe, yet fun place to call their own. And it's important, in my view, that the place is their own.

Much has been said about reserving space at Kedron Field house for teen activities. Others talk about turning over Glenlock to the teens. Both of these ideas are certainly worthy of discussion. In the end, however, I would strongly prefer to see the city invest in a separate facility. It can be leased at a relatively nominal cost, and it can be manned by city personnel and volunteers with simple reallocation of resources. Heck, we can charge a cover charge as a user fee---I don't think that's unexpected by the teens.

I'll give you a pefect place to get this project moving. The old World's Gym in Aberdeen is vacant. It's right in the middle of town, it's adjacent to Partners, there's plenty of parking, and it's big enough to accomodate the kids' needs. Furniture and games can be donated. Businesses can be solicited to provide sound and lighting for entertainment. Food can be served, even if it's just pizza and cokes similar to the refreshment stands at the ball fields.

My wife Robin is the Adult Coordinator for the PTCYC, a hugely successful organization dedicated to giving the teens a voice in city government. Shelby, Robin and I are willing to spearhead the effort, but we need your backing. We need your help. More importantly, the kids need your help.

This request is not about a reaction to the suicides we see in town, it's about being proactive for once and getting in the game of life our youth needs here.

I'd greatly appreciate hearing back from each of you to let me know your thoughts and to help us make this happen. As we all know, if it's the will of council, anything can be made to happen if you can count to three! Please, help us and help the kids and let's make this project a reality.

Sincerely,

Dan Tennant
120 Ardenlee Drive
Peachtree City, GA 30269
Home: 770-631-7712
Cell: 404-375-2115
Fax: 770-631-2966
Email: DanTennant@aol.com


Shelby Barker's picture
Submitted by Shelby Barker on Tue, 02/14/2006 - 9:26am.

THANK YOU

I ask anyone willing to give ideas or help out in this cause, either email me at shelbybarker@gmail.com or call me at 678-371-5322....You can also contact Dan Tennant or my mother Robin Tennant.

Thank you


nuk's picture
Submitted by nuk on Tue, 02/14/2006 - 9:01am.

I thought Jim Royal and partners already had a dan tenant for that space and contract before World ever moved out.

Let me ask another question: do u really think it's a good idea to locate a teen club next to a bar? I don't and since Royal also owns the Y-Knot, I highly doubt he does either.

NUK


DanTennant's picture
Submitted by DanTennant on Tue, 02/14/2006 - 9:44am.

You are correct, NUK. I just found out Jim Royal just signed a contract yesterday with another guy who's putting a gym in there, so the idea of that particular location is a goner, but the idea of someplace else should not be.

Dan Tennant


mudcat's picture
Submitted by mudcat on Tue, 02/14/2006 - 8:39pm.

Good for you Dan, great letter and good thoughts. Think about J.D. Holme's 8,000 feet where Gold's Gym and more recently the library was. Great location for a teen center. The city rented it once for the library and if they weren't asleep at the switch they would have negotiated an option on future rental.

Push that idea Dan. I'm sorry I didn't vote for you, but this is a great idea!
meow

P.S. Whoever signed a lease on the space at Aberdeen for a gym is also a goner. Has to be one of those 24-hour check yourself in things and that is not going to work. Hope Jim Royal got a big deposit.


nuk's picture
Submitted by nuk on Tue, 02/14/2006 - 10:18am.

How about Steve Brown's backyard?

NUK


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