Smart cookie –
Of course I know what goes on there. I’m only a few miles from there, and know all too well what goes on in the parking lot of Center 1. I also know what goes on at the tail end of Broadway in Montecello (a block or so past the courthouse). Ditto for the bowling alley.
I also know about the parties that take place in bungalows that get rented in non-frum colonies by frum teens. Yes, I know all of that, so clearly, I’m not ignorant
But I also know that you are talking about 20-30, max 50 kids.
Now, weigh that against the fact that we have HUNDREDS of yeshiva kids that spend the summer doing NOTHING wrong. Where the hue and cry goes out is in this senario:
Mr. or Ms. Yeshiva Bochur / BY Girl is in walmart (gasp!) buying a box of cheerios, and sees an ex-classmate or neighbor (who is no longer in the mainstream)in aisle 5. And they stop for a minute to exchange small talk.
While this is going on, Reb Hat / Jacket at all time sees Bochur / BY girl talking to someone who is OBVOIULSY doing drugs and l-ord know what else (but could not tell you how this is known) and comes to the wrong (but definitve) conclusion that Yeshiva bocher / BY girl is only a few steps away from buying a cheeseburger.
Think I’m exaggerating? I’ve heard this dozens of times. I’m the parent of 3 teens, so I hear things from both the parent / yeshiva end as well as the teen end.
As far as the “opposite gender”, my boys would say hello to a family friend in public. That does not mean they are one step away from the unthinkable. It means they have mentchlechkiet. And they go to a very good yeshiva
Do bad things happen in the mountains? Sure they do. Is it the epidemic that the “askonim” make it out to be?
No way. Like I said, we need to stop bashing our teens. They are good kids and like everyone else, need to relax every now and then. Relaxing does not mean they are going off the derech.