The State of Lakewood's Youth: Teens To Discuss Life In Lakewood, February 16th
Mohammed Khaleel and Grant Graves speak with Lakewood resident Malik Moore, who is Branch Director of Downtown YMCA/ Director of Community Youth Services.
On a recent blustery January day, a group of eight Lakewood High School (LHS) students met to prepare for a community discussion about what it’s like to be a teenager growing up in Lakewood. The “Youth Conversation” will take place February 16th from 7:00-8:30 pm at the Lakewood City Hall Auditorium.
Hosted by the Lakewood Community Relations Advisory Commission, the “Youth Conversation” will provide an opportunity for city leaders and residents to listen to our youth describe both the positives and the negatives of their experiences of being teenagers in Lakewood.
The students who volunteered to lead the discussion are an eclectic mix of Lakewood teens spanning ethnic, racial, and economic differences. Despite these distinctions, their shared vision is of teenagers who want to make a positive impact on their community. The purpose of the preparatory session was to get everybody thinking and talking. Joe Lobozzo, LHS teacher and co-chair of the “Youth Conversation” asked, “How do you respond to the phrase, ‘There’s nothing to do for teenagers in Lakewood?’”
Silence permeates the room for a few seconds, the quizzical looks dissipate and one of the students jumps to answer. “All there is for teenagers to do in Lakewood is to eat and gain weight,” states Jamil Thomas, an outspoken LHS junior. “They haven’t given us much to do, we don’t have recreation centers and not everyone can afford the YMCA.” Other students in the room nod their heads in agreement. One student argues that she likes going to the different restaurants on the Detroit Avenue strip. Thomas, like a few other teens in the room, disagrees and thinks the city should offer teens more alternatives.
The debate becomes quite heated; the arguments persist and the possibilities seem endless. The exchanges are raw and real. The conclusion for some teens present was a feeling of limited opportunity-- the city offered little to do for them. Other students argued that one had to seek out the opportunities, and that they were there to be found, if you knew where to look. All of the students agreed, teen problems in Lakewood are very real and students have a lot of different solutions to offer.
There are plenty of things to do says LHS senior Grant Graves. “You have to explore what Lakewood has to offer and once you find what you’re passionate about, you have to get involved.” An avid athlete, Graves’ life in Lakewood has been defined by his sporting experiences and his good relationships with supporting adults. “Sports play a major role in my life,” Graves continued, “Being on different teams and participating in different athletic events has helped make me the person that I am today.” Graves was born in Lakewood and has seen the many opportunities Lakewood has to offer.
While Graves is a lifelong resident, Mohammed Khaleel has only been here since 2007 and has his own reasons for being grateful to be in Lakewood. In March of 2003, the U.S. military invaded Iraq vowing to oust the Saddam Hussein-led government. At that time, Mohammed Khaleel was a 10-year-old child walking the streets of Baghdad. His family was in hiding when the first few bombs dropped. “It was a traumatic experience,” states Khaleel, now an LHS senior. “I’m grateful to be alive.” Khaleel’s childhood was smeared by stains of war. When he speaks he emits passion that electrifies the room. After living under the heavy uncertainties of a war torn region, Khaleel and his family arrived in Lakewood in 2007 after a brief stint as refugees of war in neighboring Syria.
Khaleel is not alone as an immigrant in a new city. Lakewood’s history is immersed in waves of immigrant groups. The most recent trend brought Palestinians to Lakewood in the early 1980’s. Albanians arrived during the next wave in the 1990’s. From an early age their children were educated through the local school system. Although it may have been difficult at first for the different cultures to adapt, eventually their children became Rangers.
“Lakewood was a very welcoming community when I arrived,” Khaleel says. He credits the school system for giving him endless opportunities. “It’s a great school that we have,” he said. Like Graves, Khaleel feels that students have to go out and seek inclusion in high school groups. Like many teens, Khaleel is involved in athletics and different student clubs throughout the high school. Still says Khaleel, the opportunities outside of school are more limited. Khaleel argues that the town itself is not very welcoming to teens. “For the most part, I feel like the adults have a bad image of us. Like we’re going to cause problems everywhere we go. We need something to do outside of school,” he says. "Outdoor recreational activities give us something to do.”
“Teens get in trouble when they’re sitting around with their friends, bored,” states Thomas. Indeed, in the era of social media and the rise of technology, children and teens on average are spending 7 and a half to 8 hours a day in front of a computer screen, telephone, television, or other technological device. This, as many have argued, has caused a spike in childhood obesity. According to the Center for Disease Control, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Amongst the 12-19 year old age group, obesity has increased from 5.0% to 18.1%.
The diseases associated with childhood obesity are endless; the social and psychological problems are debilitating. Local economic development focused on building low cost food joints seems to have made the problem worse, says Khaleel. “A lot of the positive activities that we have are very limited, we can do more in recreational stuff, giving teens more places to burn off energy. There isn’t much to do for teens besides eating.”
Jamil Thomas and his friends usually go outside of the city for fun. He says most of his peers want to hang out in spots where they are not targeted for loitering. “We definitely need more constructive activities that don’t force us to go outside of the city.”
The teens participating in this event are hopeful that their advice to city leaders will be welcomed with open minds and open ears.
And they did offer solutions. Thomas, Graves, and Khaleel all feel that collaboration must exist between both school and city government. They articulated their vision of a city that includes a recreation center. They asked about the possibility of opening up the two vacant schools for teen centers and open gyms. LHS students involved in the “Youth Conversation” see themselves as part of something larger than the high school, they are becoming more actively involved in the city’s rich tradition of community service.
On February 16th, they will have a momentous opportunity to present their views to community members; they encourage you to share this moment with them.