‘All good vibes’: Mecklenburg County hosts free summer event series for teens

It’s still 90 degrees and muggy outside the Eastway Regional Recreation Center as the sun starts to set on Friday, but the teens inside aren’t fazed by the weather at all.

Hundreds of them are in the air-conditioned building, where it smells like freshly popped popcorn and a DJ is playing a Kendrick Lamar song.

They’re here for the second of Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation’s Teen Summer Jam events, open to anyone between 13 and 18. The free, registration-only event series — supported by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office and the county’s public health department — is taking place every Friday night in July from 6:30 to 11 p.m. It features activities such as arts and crafts, video games and a photobooth, as well as snacks and food. The event also runs alongside a teen summer basketball league.

“We want to be an inclusive space for everybody, and teens are one of those groups that gets cast aside almost more than any other,” said Gabe Hackney, the regional manager at Eastway.

On Friday, teens were front and center. A handful were playing Madden NFL on a large TV screen. Many were simply sitting or walking around with friends, snow cones or slices of pizza in hand. All were here for the same reason: to have fun.

An idea from Baltimore

Currently in its inaugural year, the Teen Summer Jam series was inspired by similar programming in Baltimore.

“Teen crime had went down tremendously [in Baltimore], and they based it off recreation programming, giving the teens something to do,” said Justin Jackson, the superintendent of enterprise services at Mecklenburg Park and Recreation. “So we took a trip to Baltimore to see how we can imitate some of that programming, and we brought this back to Charlotte.”

The series was months in the making, starting with planning that began late last year, Hackney said. They also wanted to ensure that programming would be broadly attractive to all teens.

The first teen-exclusive programming from Mecklenburg Park and Recreation this summer was a Teen Summer Pool Jam on June 26, hosted at Ray’s Splash Planet in Uptown. It hosted around 200 teens, according to a press release. Another one is planned for Aug. 7.

So far, the reception has been “great,” Hackney said.

Every Teen Summer Jam has now hit its 180-person capacity, with over 20 people on a waitlist for next week’s event. An additional 140 teens are signed up for the basketball league, which is also full.

Friday night vibes

Friday night is 14-year-old Brandon Washington’s second time at Teen Summer Jam. He’s a substitute in the basketball league, which he was watching from the designated second-floor overlook.

“My friend’s dad is hosting the whole thing, and so he invited me and my brother to come out,” he said.

So far, he said it’s been “all good vibes,” and he’s signed up to come back next week.

His favorite activity is the Madden NFL video game, which seems to be a crowd favorite as well. Several other teens dedicated themselves to the art room, where rainbow trays of acrylic markers were laid out on the tables. One canvas, proudly displayed and signed, is a colorful illustration of a baseball cap with the word “lucky.” Tucked in the opposite corner of the recreation center is a recording studio, where a small handful of teens have congregated.

Kobe Jackson, 13, and Kylie Rios, 14, had also come to last week’s event. They said they liked how it lets them get out of the house.

Jessica Locke, the recreation assistant who introduced her to the event, said Rios had been apprehensive about coming because she “didn’t know who was going to be here.”

Rios said she hasn’t befriended anyone yet — she already knew Jackson — and wasn’t absolutely sure she would come back next week.

“It depends on how I’m feeling that day,” she said, laughing. “Maybe.”

An alternative to ‘teen takeovers’

The Teen Summer Jams coincide with increased concern about so-called “teen takeover” events that have recently popped up in Charlotte and in cities across the country.

In response, Charlotte City Council is considering an extended curfew that starts at 9 p.m. and covers everyone below the age of 18.

Park and Recreation staff say the timing is a coincidence, since the programming has been in the works for months.

“But it does make you really proud that you’re helping and providing a safe place and showing people like, 'Hey, there’s a great way to do this and partners can come together,’” Hackney said.

Teens at Friday’s event agreed that the programming was a good way for young people to hang out safely.

Maliyah Miller, 17, came to the Teen Summer Jam with her cousin. She said the good intention behind a takeover event is when “teens come together and have fun,” and believed that the night’s event was a safe alternative.

“Some of the teens don’t know how to have clean fun, like without weapons or anything,” Miller said.

Washington, the 14-year-old, agreed. The takeovers “always end up in something bad,” like fights, injuries or stronger curfew restrictions. He wants to see more events like the Teen Summer Jam “to keep people out of trouble.”

“I play football, for example, and I just got my second dead period,” Washington said. “So I really don’t have anything to do right now. But stuff like this, it’s keeping me occupied. It’s keeping me from doing things I shouldn’t be doing.”

Looking ahead

Sixteen-year-old Madison Rouse came with her friend from church. None of her other church friends had attended — would she recommend it to them?

“Yes,” she said immediately.

Jackson, the superintendent of enterprise services, said Park and Recreation is encouraged by the high retention rate. He’s looking forward to implementing more teen programming with expanded collaboration from community partners and teen input.

Changing or adding locations and implementing different activities could all be in the cards, according to Hackney. He believes next year’s Teen Summer Jam could be “bigger and better.”

“The sky’s the limit,” he said.