Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506280004
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BREEA WILLINGHAM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Sitting on a chair on the porch of her Lansdowne Park home, Katrina Mack, a rising junior at Patrick Henry High School, ate a Pop Tart as she watched children play on the sidewalk and people walk by.
That, she said one day this spring, is her daily after-school routine.
"Most of the time after school I watch `Ricki Lake,' then sit out on the porch until 8:30 or until I get bored," she said.
Katrina said watching TV and sitting on the porch is all she does because "Roanoke is real boring. I wish I lived anywhere but here."
Many teen-agers share Katrina's frustration of having nothing to do in Roanoke. The teens wish there were more places to socialize, such as teen dance clubs.
Festival in the Park organizers recognized the teens' concerns and featured an "Especially for Teens" program at this year's festival. The program included temporary tattoos, makeovers, in-line skating, karaoke and a T-shirt design contest.
"It was very popular, and it went over very well," said Wendy Schultz, director of the festival. "We're hoping to expand it next year."
But the festival happens only once a year, so what do the teens do to entertain themselves the rest of the year?
They go to the mall.
Since the 1950s, when the first shopping malls were built, teen-agers have been drawn to the escapist environment. Roanoke teens are no exception.
Valley View Mall has become the teen-age "romper room" on the weekend, a place where kids can be kids without having to listen to their parents' nagging.
"The mall has become a new community gathering place because it's safer than most locations. It's a place for teens to be noticed ... What better setting?'' said Michael Kearl, a sociology professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, who has studied mall culture for five years.
Dressed in miniskirts and little shirts that ride above the belly button, girls strut through the mall on a typical weekend night - but not too fast.
They have to make sure they're noticed by the guys sitting on the benches or leaning against the railings.
Sitting at a table in the food court at Valley View, Roland Butler, a rising senior at Patrick Henry, explained what a typical weekend night at the mall is like.
"It's real, real packed," he said. "Everybody saying hi to everybody. Then we go to the movie, but you can hardly hear the movie because everybody be talking. It's fun for the kids, but adults shout `Quiet!'
"We usually come around 7:30 and walk around until the movie starts, then after the movie we go to Brown Derby [Pancake House] on Peters Creek [Road]. We go there because everything else is usually closed."
Then, realizing he was sitting, Roland said, "This is the first time I've ever sat at the mall."
Roland added that he doesn't shop at the mall on the weekend because that time is strictly for socializing. When he does shop, he said, it's usually at Tanglewood Mall.
That's the only time he goes to Tanglewood, he said, because it's not as much fun as Valley View.
Mike Baizerman, a professor of social work at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus, has studied teen-age behavior for years - everything from runaways to teen prostitutes to kids who hang out in malls.
He said the mall is a place where kids can have good, clean fun without worrying about violence and other trouble they may find on the streets.
"They want a place where they can be kids and protect [themselves] from adults and other kids," Baizerman said. "There's very little violence and no drugs. It's become a place to not only do something, but to do something without worry.
"What's powerful about the mall is it's a neutral place. Kids don't bang on each other. They can get away from peers and try out how to be somebody different."
Roland said he feels safer at the mall because "it's more people there, and people are less likely to do something at the mall." He added that his parents also feel better knowing he's at the mall, rather than on the streets.
Baizerman added that teens are attracted to malls because malls are "designed in part for teens, with jewelry stores that sell things under $10, food stores, etc."
Katrina, however, doesn't find the mall attractive and said she doesn't hang out there because "there's nothing to do there except walk around." But Roland said that's the fun part.
Before the mall became the central hangout spot, there was the Star City Skating Rink on Hershberger Road. "We used to hang out at the skating rink when we were younger, like eighth grade," Roland said, "but when we got to high school, the mall became the spot."
Valley View's marketing director, Scott Ashcraft, said the influx of teen-agers who come to the mall on the weekends hasn't caused any problems.
"We've had situations like every mall," he said. "Certain times of the year they get a little disruptive, but you can't anticipate problems.
"We don't target any profile, and we don't try to discourage them from coming to the mall. We just ask them to be courteous to other shoppers. They are our customers, and we don't treat them unfair."
Roland said there haven't been any problems with mall security and that the officers treat the teens fine.
by CNB