Quoted from a newspaper article (source unknown):
Northland College principal John Tapene has offered the following words from a judge who regularly deals with youth. “Always we hear the cry from teenagers, ‘what can we do, where can we go?’
“My answer is this: Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons and after you’ve finished, read a book. Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun.
“The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something. You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in sickness and lonely again. In other words, grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone. Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and you are needed. It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday. Someday is now and that somebody is you!”
Our town of Oberursel lacks recreational facilities, too. This becomes obvious when the young ones gather any time of day at the nearby park and some residents at the housing area Camp King felt bothered.
For a while, police cars came through the area discouraging their gatherings.
Too much time, early school dismissal, lack of motivation, their sense of entitlement, lack of role models at home and in school, joblessness, etc. are no excuse for idle living.