10:30am Wednesday 10th February 2010
If you look around Darlington, there is something for nearly everyone. There is something for young children, all the play areas like Shuttle & Loom and Topply Joes. Something for older children (8-10), such as Wildchilds and all the play parks. There are places and events for older teens (14-17) such as Newblood @ The Forum and the night clubs for the older 18’s. For all the adults there are Bingo, Pubs, clubs, café’s etc. But there is nothing for people the age of 11-13. The cinema’s are too expensive for younger people to afford and apart from that there is nothing much else.
We think that the reason why there is nothing for our age group because people don’t have trust in us and they think we are not mature enough and maybe if there was fun clubs outside of school for our age group it would stop us from hanging round the streets causing trouble and vandalising stuff! We should have the opportunity to experience events such as ‘FREEDOM’.
We don’t have one in Darlington but we think we should. It is a 13-17 clubbing experience. It’s cheap but also provides a fun-filled, safe night. It is for 13-17 year olds so 11 and 12 year olds couldn’t go but we think Darlington should hold more events ‘like’ it. Apart from the partying that people our age like, there are also things we enjoy like bowling, dance classes, cinema, drama clubs and art classes. There are some off these in Darlington and the surrounding area but they are all expensive and not very safe for people our age to go to without a parent.
We think that it would be a good idea if a group of adults started up a group for people around our age. If it cost, say £5 a term, and it was on once or twice a week, and that group of adults would take the young teens places or would hold classes for them to take part in. That way, young teens could make friends; have a good time but without bursting the bank. Or if the cinema only allowed in 11-13 year olds one night a week and only played movies appropriate for the age. If they also made it affordable, we think it would attract a good group of people. This would ensure the parents it would be safe as there would be no creepy adults in the cinema.
Georgia Roger Smith & Danielle Jones
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