A new phenomenon around Campus Martius Park is that there are a lot of high school kids that come Downtown now to shop, or get ice cream, or to just hang out in Campus Martius. While one would guess that a lot of the high schoolers walk down from Cass Tech a few blocks up, I have been surprised to see many t-shirts with emblems of suburban schools printed on them. I guess maybe it shouldn't surprise me that our suburban children are venturing into our city center for the day. Many of Detroit's privately owned suburban shopping malls no longer let them hang out without a parent, and most suburban streets and parks are somewhat less attractive and interesting to walk down.
I like to quote
James Howard Kunstler who said that the model of suburbia is all about the impoverishment of the public space, and the glorification of the private space.
Now don't get me wrong, I really have nothing against suburbia. It's the over protective parents who don't watch the kids, the parents who are move to a street without a sidewalk so their kids are not enticed to wonder away while they should be watching them, or the parents who resort to essentially building a arcade or
an all out mall to keep the kids from entering the real world. Of course, for others suburbia can be a great and safe place to raise a child in a safe environment for most responsible parents. That is, suburbia is a great place until they reach the age of about ten.
Unfortunately, older suburban kids have no public spaces to hang out with their friends, and don't get toughened up enough by real world experiences, as they are stuck in their suburban home or subdivision "pod". Teens should be exploring the community, and getting ready to spread their wings and fly out into the real world. Instead, suburban children end up bored in their neighborhoods, and can turn to vandalism or torturing small animals behind the two car detached garage. Once a child reaches their teens, they are even more bored, often ending up getting into the liquor, gun, or medicine cabinets when mommy and daddy are out of town, or experimenting with drugs and sex in their parent's basements.
Preteens and teenagers are arguably too young to be doing some of the above mentioned activities. Teenagers no longer need protection, they need guidance, and they need public realms and a community that is safe without restricting freedoms. Teens also need communities that are easy to explore without mom or dad having to drive them everywhere. The deficiencies of suburbia are really showing up in the high amount of
drug and alcohol abuse,
pregnancy, and
depression and
suicide rates among suburban teens in this country. Right now, our suburban communities are just not living up to the wants and needs of the children who live in them.
Posted by DetroitDad at
7/07/2009 01:57:00 PM
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