Wife Mommy- it’s a bandaid.
As a teen, I can say that while most of my friends and I don’t hang out in these types of places, those of them who do would simply take another ten seconds to find somewhere else to go.
here I reach a dead end, though, because I have no idea what else they’re supposed to do to be proactive. Therefore I can’t blame them for being reactionary, because what are they supposed to do?
One thing- a lot or most of these teens (at least the ones I know) are NOT at risk or OTD in the conventional sense- they are normal teens, in that they’re in BYs and yeshivos, they learn their chumash and gemara, and are just bored and curious. There are very few teens who fit into that idealized ben Torah/bas Yisrael box. Most teens (and yes, I can say this, as I’m one myself) are just immature, curious, and trying in rather dumb ways to avoid being so. DON’T FLIP.
ANd like I mentioned above, when one hangout is closed, the next one is already being set up. From Yavne to Usha to Yavne…