Reply To: Kosher Hangouts

wow I feel everyone missed the point of my post, how can you have your head in the sand to whats happening. I know co-ed is not ideal, I grew up in a pretty frum homw never spoke to boys till last year right before i turned 18 and that first guy is my boy friend of the last 14 months but anyway thats beyond the point. I think one of the probems with the frum worlds is extremes, no co-ed no nothing, you dont understand the znus and immorality that is going on can make anyone sick I have seen it all, you cant got from 0 to 100 in one shot it has to be gradual, you cant put these kids who are doing znus and who knosw what back into a real chareidi environmet they will just rebell again and feel no one understands them and than never come back to their roots. But if we slowly in icrinements move what they are doing into a kosher supervised, loving warm environment with people to aid their struggles there is hope they can get back to where they fell from.

Another point, maybe i shouldnt have used the word “hangout” perse as it denotes a negative conotation, like 711 in monsey or several pizza stores in brooklyn. im not talking about kids smoking up and just wasting their time. so we have the question of why kids hang out? so the most common is boredom, they have nothing else to do thats very true but not the sole problem, when kids hang out they are looking for people who have a lot in common with them, its diffrent than who your friends are, like for example i was abused and abuse causes a wide range of emotional problems from not trusting people and not letting people into you life or to being to trusting, or feeling wortless, i could go on and on, so you tend to gravitate toward the people who have common problems in you, I know I did, i could name you hangouts where the kids represent diffrent problems and are looking for emotional relief. So to solve this problem, if our “kosher hangouts” could become more than just a store front where the kids stand in front and look stoned, if it could gives the kids something to do, like if we set up with people available for the kids, like psychologists and social workers but not who will make the kids feel like something is wrong with them, they already feel that way if we put it in a way that the adults who supervise these hangouts really interact with these kids, wherer through playing basketball or just shmoozing it really can accomplish. I think Ohr Nava is an amazing organization and I am very familar with it as Nava was my friends mother, Ohr Nava attracts a different population, like I am not at the level now I would want to sit through shiurim and even though thy have different activities most of the girls there are critical and would look down on me and I already know that feeling way to well, Rabbi Wallerstien is an amazing speaker as weel as an individual but one orginization in Brooklyn is not going to touch 1/100th of what needs to be accomplished.

I dont want to sound chutzpadik but I really feel some adults just have forgotten completley whats it like to feel as a teenager, plus we have so many issues that you have never had, some of you just turn your back on whats happening, but I know it must pain some of you, please do something!