• August 2002 •

Takoma Teens Are Definitely Not Mallrats

I recently read an article in the Washington Post called "Working on Nothing but a Tan," which claimed that teenagers have become accustomed to leading an unproductive summer: in late June, school lets out and adolescents across the area run to their local pools, malls, and televisions.

Though this statement is generally true, it does not represent a large population of teenagers in the Takoma Park region, who have done a variety of interesting and industrious activities during the humid season in Maryland.

After getting out of school a week later than in past years, teens, instead of heading to malls to catch up on shopping, headed to jobs and camps and their local library.

Leah Passman, of Silver Spring, began working as a lifeguard weeks before school ended. Instead of lounging around, as Post writer David Cho describes teenagers, Passman works hard and long hours at a job that keeps adults and children safe while enjoying usual summertime behavior. The members of Daleview pool put their lives in the hands of a teenager every time they visit. Not all teens work at the token summer job.

Many teenagers decide to travel during those precious two and a half months. Family vacations are not abnormal for Blair students in the area. Amy Ernst, 16, just returned home from a family trip to London, England this summer.

"I found it to be very educational. I learned a lot," Ernst admits. Another form of the vacation is going on road trips with friends. From Jack Kerouac to Tom Green, the road trip has been established as the epitome of summer vacations for teens and families alike.

Though the number of teens working overall has decreased since the 1990s, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, it is hard to find an adolescent in the area who does not have plans over the summer. If not for work or other summer commitments, many teenagers would have nothing to do. Anna Schoenfleder, another Blair student, works two jobs, choosing a difficult schedule over laziness.

"There are not enough things to do during the summer, so working provides money for me to occupy myself. If I didn't have a job, I would have a lot more time, but I would also be bored," Schoenfelder said.

Working also provides a place for teens to engage in social activites. Part of the reason high school students get jobs over the summer is to meet new people and experience fresh things that they might not have a chance to do during the school yearÑthus the appeal of working as a waitress or lifeguard, as opposed to jobs that invest in their future.

Like many others, I have spent many precious days of freedom reading assigned books and writing up homework assignments. It would be na·ve to think that Blair teachers would give their students no work over the summer break. Otherwise, students may actually completely relax after a long nine and a half months of school, and the stress that goes along with it.

Additionally, if you are entering an AP course in the fall, you have even more work to consider as you battle that unforgivable Maryland heat. It is almost as if you pay not only during the scholastic year for taking challenging courses, but on "vacation" as well.

I seem to remember those summers when I could relax play games with friends and be free to read books I liked. Oh yeahÑthat was in elementary school.