TEENS – By Joey Roberts

So today I went to the local teen center. It was happy and sad all at the same time. Much like anything else in life that concerns helping people there just doesn’t seem to be enough “RALLY”.

I played “Rock Band” (a game on Playstation2) for 20 min. with some of the coolest kids i’ve ever met. They taught me how to play the electric drums, use a fake guitar and I shot pool on probably the nicest pool table in the city. There was time for conversation. There was laughing involved, followed by more intriguing conversation.

The bitter-sweetness of the whole hour and a half was this…There should be more people who want to help kids in this world. Well, forget the world, in this city. If we can’t help the kids in our city then it will be hard for any of us to face the kids around the globe with hope. I mean these kids here got “the stuff”. They are funny, they give you a hard time, they want cool stuff, they have cool stuff. I talked with 2 girls just for a few moments and got to see a side of them in about 3 min. that probably their own families don’t know.

I am putting out a call, a mandate…you could say a “Challenge”. I dare anyone who reads this to find your local teen center, go to it and visit with the people who are there. Go and see what’s REALLY up with these kids.

It’s a crying shame to hear that people (general) don’t want much to do with the teenagers of a city. It’s terrible that we (society) want kids to stay off drugs and out of trouble but expecting them to do it on their own. It’s absolutely amazing (in a bad way) that we (society, general) expect “Someone else” and usually on their own, without much funding to do a job that would take any 10 people together to accomplish. I say not shame on the kids, but shame on us.

Shame on us who sit idle and watch helpless teens go down the same paths that some of us have been down and found destruction on, yet still not guarding them from the very same hazard. Shame on us who want to take care of the elderly but not the youngerly. Has it ever occurred to US that the youth are the future yet we keep nursing the past. DO WE REALLY WANT TO LIVE IN THE GOOD OLE DAYS THAT BAD??? Do we really want to keep throwing funds at past generations and deal with this generation once then next one comes along? How backwards does that sound to you?

NO NO NO!!! I say let’s throw the money to the SMART choice. I don’t want to make you mad but I would like to ruffle some feathers by saying IT’S STUPID! There I said it “Stupid” to keep the past alive and let our future die off before it gets here. I say we give the resources to those who truly NEED it the most and that’s the kids.

Today I saw POTENTIAL. Today I saw FRESH IDEAS. Today I saw a miracle waiting to happen. I may have met the next city counsel person today. I may have played video games with our next mayor. Today I may have been laughing with tomorrow’s next Governor. WHO KNOWS???

Here’s an idea…Let’s RETHINK what we have and what we are doing with it. Is it RIGHT that these kids have 1 room in the whole city? Is it right that these kids have old, used equipment to learn with and be entertained by. Is it right that the elderly in our community have many rooms, with updated equipment. That we have 1 lady on staff for the FUTURE of our city and possibly 10’s of people on staff to take care of the past. BITTERSWEET I tell you bittersweet.

What can we do?

We can do a lot! We can petition the people in charge to get on board with thinking of the future. We can come together in unity (not divided over “petty issues” like money) and we can give kids FINALLY something to do in our city.

I applaud the hard work of those who are holding on and making it happen. I applaud those who don’t give up hope. I applaud those who will not quit when seemingly nobody else cares. YOU HAVE A FRIEND IN US!

In closing…I want to make a pledge. I want it to be said that the Dream Center of Northern New England is dedicated to the future and desirous of the past to come on board. We are dedicated to making the lives of teenagers fulfilled. WE are dedicated to giving our young people a place to go, something fantastic to do and ultimately saving their lives from ending up like many of those who have gone before them. WE do not write this for our own glory. We do not write this to offend. And if you will look deep within yourself I know that you will find a kid somewhere inside of you that wants better than they were given for these kids.

***Some ideas to think about:

An indoor extreme sports facility w/skateboard park, gymnastics, dance, swimming pool, weight gym, tennis courts, basketball, video arcade, concert hall, study hall, library, computers, music lessons, snack bar, gymnasium.

***These are some things that would not only bless the youth, but would ENSURE the future of Berlin, NH.

“Take care of the kids today and they will take care of us tomorrow. Neglect them today and be neglected by them tomorrow.”- Is this the reason that WE are neglecting them today? Were WE neglected by someone else yesterday?