Don seems to have it down just right. The young people may have "adults" telling them what to do all day. What they are able to enjoy with Don is an adult respecting them, not telling them to DO this or that but allowing them to just be themselves in a safe environment. Could any of us ask for better than that?

When I spent a summer on the coast of Nova Scotia in 1971, I attended at a dance mainly for teens. A young lad from the village where we were living sat down next to me and asked me if I had "seen the RCMP around?"

I matter-of-fact-ly responded: "No, why would they be around?"

"Well a few of us broke into a cottage."

"That does not seem like a very nice thing to do."

"we did not break anything or take anything. We just wanted a place to hang out. None of our parents will allow it. There is no place for us to go."

How I wished I could have stayed in that village and opened our home to the kids as a place to hang out. They even had to have their dances in the next village - 10 miles away - because in their village people complained about the noise they made walking home.

We need to meet the real needs of our young people, not the needs we think they SHOULD have.