It’s a stereotype as old as any other: Wayward teenagers, lacking easily accessible entertainment options, stave off boredom by experimenting with drugs or by causing mischief and petty shenanigans — all to the chagrin of curmudgeonly adults who bemoan the antics of “kids these days.”
The San Lorenzo Valley is decentralized and rural, so the stereotype might be supposed to fit. But is it true for the valley’s young people?
This week and next, the Press-Banner will explore what the heck teenagers do in the San Lorenzo Valley. In our research, and as many parents already know, we found that there are two pieces to this puzzle — activities outside of school and activities associated with school. Today, we’ll explore what’s available in the community for teens.
Rise, fall of teen centers
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was good to be a teenager. In addition to after-school activities, teen centers opened in both Felton and Boulder Creek.
The Felton Teen Center, on the property now occupied by Taqueria Vallarta, was run by Youth First, a nonprofit funded by private donations and county funds, according to Eric Hammer, one of its founders. Hammer now represents Mountain Community Resources on the Community Bridges Board of Directors.
Hammer said the drop-in teen center offered games, movies and the like, as well as mentoring and help with writing resumes and polishing job skills.
“There’s a direct correlation between crime and having nothing for kids to do,” Hammer said. “(It’s important to) have a place that is safe for teens to be, instead of having them going out and being hoodlums.”
The goal of Youth First, Hammer said, was to develop options outside of school for the kids who aren’t interested in organized activities.
“How to integrate all the different social groups — that’s key,” Hammer said. “How can we form a program that will be a draw to everyone?”
The Teen Center provided a place to hang out in a civilized way and later organized a skate and BMX bike park in a church parking lot on Graham Hill Road.
“When (kids are) in the facility, they have to be respectful,” Hammer said.
A funding shortfall closed the teen center in the mid-2000s.
From the mid-1990s until 2003, the Boulder Creek teen center, known as Valley Youth Activities, was run out of the Boulder Creek Recreation Center by the recreation and park district. The effort was spearheaded by Denese Matthes, who served at the time on the district’s board.
“There was zero for teens,” Matthes said, when she joined the board in 1995.
She said the district partnered with child development expert Ellen McCabe to create a space for everything from basketball teams to teen band performances, a computer room, breakdancing shows and arts and crafts, in an environment that “professed respect, community and acceptance.”
“It was important to create a place where (teens) felt like they belonged,” Matthes said. “It gave them something exciting to do”
Why did the teen centers work?
“Kids will go wherever they are welcomed,” McCabe said. “People were afraid of teenagers, and I wanted to our kids to demonstrate that teens don’t all fall into stereotypes.”
The teen programs fell by the wayside as leadership changed in Boulder Creek.
“I really believe that the kids need this — not just in Boulder Creek,” Matthes said. “Some of these kids who were coming, their parents were in jail, or they were sleeping on couches.”
Life without a center
According to valley residents, including teenagers themselves, there is still plenty to do, as long as a teen wants to be part of a group.
“I’d say there is a lot to do here,” said Dylan Miller, 15, a sophomore at San Lorenzo Valley High School.
When he’s not playing football or running track at the school, Miller said, he gets together with his friends to ride dirt bikes or go mountain biking.
“I spend most of my time outdoors,” he said.
Teens in the valley play sports, join the Scouts, learn martial arts, attend church youth groups, take part in 4-H, make art, play music and act or sing in theater. All these activities are offered in the community.
“There are a fair amount of activities here,” said Ron Taylor, associate pastor of Felton Bible Church. “It just depends on what you decide to take advantage of.”
Taylor, whose duties include working with the church’s youth ministries, said that many of the young people he sees, in both middle and high school, have plenty of activities on their plates.
“I know a lot of our youth, they’re multiply involved in things,” he said.
But activities are not always enough.
“I would love it if there was a teen center in Felton,” said Chase Kammeier, 12, a seventh-grader at San Lorenzo Valley Middle School. “Somewhere to relax and not have to be in school mode.”
Kammeier said that many of his friends live in Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek, and, especially without a bike, “it’s boring here.”
If teens do cause a ruckus, though, it’s not necessarily because they don’t have the option to do something productive.
Sgt. Jim Ross of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said that many of the young people who get themselves into hot water are looking specifically to find it.
“I think a majority of the kids that we deal with don’t get into trouble due to a lack of activities — it’s a conscious choice,” he said. “If a teen has a mindset (to be law-abiding), they’ll make the effort to participate in positive activities.”
“If you look around, we have things to do here,” Ross added, “You’ve got parks — Henry Cowell, Big Basin. You’ve got plenty of outdoor activities.”
“I think there’s a fair number of kids that just fall by the way,” Taylor said. “I do know that there are a lot of kids out there who just aren’t engaged.”
“(Lack of confidence) incapacitates them to the options available.”
But teenagers looking for a dedicated teen center might have missed the boat by a few years.
While it still offers open-gym time for teens twice a week, the Boulder Creek Recreation Center now focuses more on family-based activities and classes than teen-specific offerings.
“This is a place for the entire community — teens are just one piece of the puzzle,” said Christina Horvat, the district manager.
Horvat said that while only about five teenagers regularly visit the recreation center, they actively participate in planning activities, like family movie nights and dance parties.
Limited space and time demands play a factor in whether teen programs are viable in the San Lorenzo Valley, Horvat said, but a major hurdle is how the teens can get to those programs.
“The number-one barrier here is transportation,” she said. “It’s a different way of living for teens here.”
Maggie Ghaffari, recreation administrative assistant, echoed the sentiment.
“It’s a big commitment here to go anywhere,” she said.
“It really helps if you’ve got your (driver’s) license,” 15-year-old Dylan Miller agreed.
Horvat also said that one worry with the former teen center in Boulder Creek was that people would use it as a rendezvous point and then leave to cause trouble.
“(Teens) do not want to be around adults,” she said.
Teen involvement and the future
Horvat also said the recreation district in Boulder Creek relies heavily on teens as volunteer leaders for summer activities offered to younger children during the off-school months.
“They’re a huge help to us,” Ghaffari said.
The future, particularly as it pertains to teen centers in the valley, revolves around money — and specifically the lack thereof.
“We all like to get on the bandwagon for something new, but sustaining it is where it hits a wall,” Taylor, the pastor, said. “You have to have a source of income.”
Youth groups, like those at a handful of valley churches, are paid for by the congregations but meet only once or several times each week. A county- or district-run program requires staff.
“In this world, everything boils down to funding,” Hammer said. “We’re trying to fund things with less money.”
“It takes a community, a family, to raise a kid, and when any part of that breaks down, the kids are the ones that suffer.”
Part Two of this series, focusing on activities offered through San Lorenzo Valley middle and high schools, will appear in next week’s Press-Banner. To comment, e-mail reporter Joe Shreve at jo*@pr*********.com, call 438-2500 or visit www.pressbanner.com.
