When it comes to creating more programs and opportunities for teenagers in the Monadnock Region, further communication will be key.
Approximately 40 people attended a community conversation in Peterborough on Wednesday night focused on meeting the social and cultural needs of the region’s teenage population.
“I think teenagers are often overlooked for complaining too much or talking about being bored,” said ConVal senior Daisy Young, whose recent letter to the editor helped spark the evening’s conversation. “It may not seem like a big deal now for a generation to have a lack of things to do in the area, but it will come to be a problem later.”
Young was joined by fellow ConVal students Henry Bernstein and Anna McGuiness, who also shared their perspectives on the current landscape for teenagers in the region.
“Those years are terrifying and confusing and lonely,” said McGuiness, a senior and Hancock resident. “Even at a school surrounded by other teenagers it can be hard to feel like you are the only person who feels that way.”
Both Young and McGuiness told the mostly adult audience that there aren’t many opportunities for teenagers in the region to hang out and socialize.
Many programs are catered towards young children, while many towns feature businesses and restaurants catered towards a more adult crowd.
Young said many teenagers try to make the trek to Manchester, Concord, and other larger cities for things to do because the few opportunities in the Monadnock Region grow boring fast.
“Outside of these few options – or in the winter – we are reclused to our homes or to a town that takes 45 minutes to an hour to drive to, which is a lot of time and money,” Young said.
Bernstein said much of his ability to socialize comes on the weekends, as he is busy with schoolwork and sports throughout the week.
“The biggest community thing that is hard for me to get is connection with older and younger people,” Bernstein said.
Many adults at the meeting highlighted potential events and groups in the region that teenagers could become more involved in, including movie nights, library and recreation department events, and community suppers.
Some expressed a frustration in not knowing how to communicate that things are happening or wishing that more teenagers would come to the events that were set up.
“There needs to be skin in the game from teens,” Peterborough Recreation Director Jeff King said.
McGuiness said after the discussion that she felt things were productive but also frustrating at times.
“Some people brought a lot of examples to the table of things they felt the community was already offering, which was frustrating to me in some ways because I’ve never heard of most of the things people were talking about tonight. Obviously, it’s not really our fault that we weren’t going to them if we didn’t know they were happening,” McGuiness said.
In order for things to improve in the area, the teenagers said that increased communication will be needed on multiple fronts.
“There’s a lack of communication between the different age groups,” Young said. “Something I noticed is a lot of people talked about social media as if we didn’t know about it. We do. We are willing to help out the older generation with that.”
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com.