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By RENITA FENNICK; Times Leader Staff Writer
Sunday, May 12, 1996 Page: 1A
WILKES-BARRE — Community leaders call it loitering.
To teens, it’s just hanging out.
Municipalities such as Wilkes-Barre Township and Edwardsville are
responding by passing ordinances designed to pressure teens to get out of the
malls.
But a group of Wilkes-Barre teens that claims there is little for them to
do pose a serious question: “Where else can we go?”
“We’re safe in the mall,” said 15-year-old Scott Weiss. “At least we’re not
outside. We shop there and we go there for fast food at the Patio Court.”
Jocelyn Holodick, 17, a senior, said merchants shouldn’t forget that
teenagers are important consumers.
“I used to work at the mall in a bookstore and a lot of the customers would
be teens,” Holodick said. “They would come in, buy a book or magazine and sit
outside and look at it. Is that loitering?”
They argue that teens account for most of the fast-food sales at the food
court.
“If you don’t drive, you have to wait around for your parents to pick you
up,” said 14-year-old Sara Kolvilik.
But even without the loitering issue at the malls, teens say the Wyoming
Valley is in desperate need of places where teens can gather.
Joon Hong would like to see more cultural events. The 18-year-old senior
said he would like to see more traveling exhibitions at local art galleries
and theatrical events.
Rebecca St. Pierre, 15, and Weiss, both said they expect the proposed arena
to give teens more options.
“We need more music around here,” St. Pierre said. “King’s (College) and
Wilkes (University) have some good bands but they’re not big enough to have
some of the really popular ones.”
Justin Ruffin, 15, said he’d like to see the mall expanded.
“It’s a poor mall. I’ve seen so many better ones,” Ruffin said. “Even if
you go to the mall, there’s not that much to do. You walk around once or twice
and you’re bored.”
Improving downtown Wilkes-Barre by adding more shops and stores would lure
teens into the city, Jessica Cronauer said.
“I think many kids would shop and hang out downtown if there were more
stores,” Cronauer, 15, said. “A coffee shop like After Hours (at Basically
Bagels, Kingston) would be nice. But only if there were more things to do
downtown. Then there would be more people and it would be safer.”
Holodick agrees. “You’d have to clean up the downtown first. As it is, I’m
afraid to go to Public Square. I’m scared to death to drive around anywhere in
the valley at night. No matter how many businesses are in the area or what is
offered, if the town isn’t clean or safe, no one will go.”
Kolvilik said she especially likes the Farmers Market, which is held on
Public Square every Thursday during the summer and early fall.
“That’s neat. It’s just fun to walk around there, look around and eat,”
Kolvilik said.
None of the teens interviewed frequent Mantis Green, a coffee shop in the
first block of South Main Street.
“It appeals to a certain group. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Holodick
said. “I just don’t like it.”
Cronauer doesn’t go to Mantis Green, either, but she thinks it serves a
purpose.
“We don’t just need one place for teens,” Cronauer said. “There isn’t just
one answer. We need a bunch of places that aren’t seriously supervised, like
coffee houses, restaurants, where we can gather. A place where there are
mostly teens, not a lot of older people.”
Hong agrees that diversity is the key.
“We need a lot of different things. We have to remember that teens are
diverse and like a lot of different things.”
TIMES LEADER/BOB ESPOSITO
Teenagers hang out near the entrance of the food court at the Wyoming
Valley Mall.
TIMES LEADER/BOB ESPOSITO
The food court at the Wyoming Valley Mall is a popular hangout for teens.
One teenager sits on the railing near the entrance of the food court.