Teen Center Information for Parents and Guardians
Teen Center Coordinator: Dave Kirkpatrick 588-3334 or The Grapevine 588-2620
What the Teen Center Is (aka our Mission Statement)
The Teen Center is designed to provide Teens, mainly in grades 8-12 from the Great Brook School towns, a place to meet, hang out, have fun, have access to resources, and find opportunities to engage in the community in positive ways.
What the Teen Center Is Not
Our Teen Center is not school or a school-sponsored program. As such, the center is not bound by or operating under school rules or policies, and a clear distinction between the two should be understood by parents and guardians. Our Teen Center is not a day care, camp, or an after-school program, although coming in after school and on weekends is encouraged! We do not assume the role of any minor's custodian or guardian, nor do we authorize sign-outs or "release" Teens to any particular individual's care.
In this respect our teen center is similar to other public places teenagers may be found hanging around for a bit, being dropped off and picked up, or spending the day. The library, the beach, the park, and the mall are all similar situations. There are adults nearby. The rules of law as well as the rules of civil society apply.
Drop In Format
To best suit our intended purpose we chose a drop-in format. Teens are generally welcome to come and go during our regular hours and parents or guardians should make arrangements with their teens as to when is appropriate to come to or leave the center. We ask those using the center to sign in and out as it helps us to show how many Teens are using the center when we seek funding. It also helps us get to know one another. Sign-in/out may be required for some events, and re-entry may not be allowed during special functions.
Activities and Events
Our teen center will have and provide access to a variety of games, entertainment and activities, and will serve as a hub through which additional opportunities for recreation, employment, community service and education can be presented. In general, on-site activities will be made available and scheduled in advance, but participation will not be required. Dances, performances and other special events may require signup, sign in/out, or parental permission as deemed necessary by the Staff or Steering Committee.
Concept is Everything. Ours Is Our Own.
What is a Teen Center? Some other "teen centers" we looked at in making preparations for our own were intended to serve "troubled" or "at-risk" teens; some focus on those already "looking" to stay out of trouble; some were virtually day camp/day care, with structured activities for each day. Many of these centers are run by the schools. Some had daily use or membership fees and required membership applications. Some were clearly better examples than others of what we felt our Teen Center should be, and we carefully considered concepts from all of these in designing the format for our Teen Center.
We chose to present a small, fairly broad set of expectations for Teen participants, and provide a
(Over, Please)
minimum of scheduling of day-to-day activities. We chose to open with a drop-in format for teens. There is no membership card or pin, there are no applications or membership fees. While planned activities will be offered, these will generally be elective in nature, and in most cases can be held in tandem with the unstructured, regular use of the space.
Cornerstones of Our Philosophy:
ACCESS: We want our Teen Center to be both open and inviting to as many teens within our greater community as possible.
DIVERSITY: Diversity also relates also to access. Promoting a diverse and welcome atmosphere for all is central to the purpose of the Teen Center.
RESPECT and TOLERANCE: These are basic virtues that sometimes seem to be lacking in society today, and one of our main goals is to promote and model healthy, respectful behavior. Those we do not particularly identify with today may be our boss, employee, or co-worker or neighbor tomorrow. Learning to function in a productive way with those we feel are "different" from us is critical to success down the road.
GOOD DECISION MAKING: We feel our Teens are capable of thinking for themselves, and rising to meet the challenges and expectations set for them. Rather than draft a long list of "rules"
intended to cover precisely any situation, we present a few rather broad, basic concepts that encompass the rest. We believe the boundaries can be understood by Teens without being listed point-by-point. We believe Teens can and will be motivated as a group to remind others of the boundaries when there is an expectation to do so.
TRUST: By starting out with expectations of success we put trust in our Teens first, as opposed to setting rules, violations, and consequences up first, front and center.
KINDNESS: An obvious virtue by most accounts.
Remedies:
Those unable or unwilling to follow the Teen Center guidelines may face warnings, notification of parent/guardian, or suspension of privileges. The staff and volunteers may at times have different interpretations of our guidelines, and may have different tolerances for certain behavior. As in No. 3 of the Code of Conduct, Teens are expected first to "follow the direction of the staff and volunteers," and can dispute said "direction" at a later time.
Should a Teen or Parent disagree with teen center staff decisions, disputes may be brought before the Steering Committee for further discussion.
And That's That!
Three simple "rules" and some philosophy, short and sweet. We will be continually evaluating our guidelines as we go. Please feel free to contact the staff with any questions or comments you may have.
We are all well aware that the time is coming when each young adult will be required to make his or her own decisions in life, and will be held solely accountable for their own actions. In offering the environment at the Teen Center as a working model of the "real world" we hope to give each a better start down that path.
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