Somehow we had ended up in a crowded cafe, surrounded by densely packed tables and a sea of glowing laptop screens. Espresso machines hissed and baristas barked out orders, but the overwhelming sound was the robotic click of keyboard keys.
The afternoon had started with a simple quest: to find a place where my friends and I could hang out. Harvard Square seemed like a good place to start. We’d wandered our way from Cambridge Common to Harvard Yard, then eventually found ourselves in a packed cafe that seemed to be serving as a substitute for a library. The idea of sitting and chatting seemed to be a likely disruption to the focused work of those around us.
Like most teens, I’ve heard stories of my parents’ favorite teenage hangout spots: the crowded food court at the local shopping mall, the run-down playground behind the elementary school, the creaky porch of a friend, the popular record shop in the town center. Generation X seemed to have limitless places for teens to just, well, be teens.
So why does it seem to be so difficult for today’s teens to find places to simply hang out?
Third spaces — places to socialize outside of home or school — seem to be harder and harder for teens to find. Cafes, restaurants, and shops, while they often function as hang-out spots, also create pressure to spend money, which often creates a challenge for teens. Even seemingly unconnected events like malls going out of business limit where teens can go, since malls are one of the most common places for teens to hang out. So, teens turn to loitering at the CVS in Belmont Center or idling in elementary school playgrounds, where they face sidelong glances from shopkeepers and complaints from parents.
Though I can’t speak for all teens, I know that many of my peers also feel that the competitiveness of school seeps into leisure time: simple hangouts become study groups focused on keeping up with a never-ending flow of homework, and days of doing nothing with friends are overshadowed by anxiety about school and extracurriculars. This feeling is heightened by the emphasis on working wherever you go—laptop-filled coffee shops make me feel like I should continuously be doing something productive. Whether it’s due to the isolating effects of social media, or a hangover from COVID, people seem less and less concerned with creating social spaces.
However, there could be positive progress coming to Belmont in this regard. The new Belmont Public Library aims to act as a third space: library plans include areas where teens (or people of any age) can come together for no other reason than forming connections and talking face-to face with friends. The library has also planned a multi-purpose teen area with room for teen programming and leisure.
Despite today’s challenges in finding third spaces, I’m optimistic for the future, because if there is one thing teens can do, it’s find fun anywhere they go. While the laughter and loud voices of a group of teens might be annoying to peaceful shop owners, there’s something uplifting about seeing groups of teens flocking towards Belmont Center after an early release day. Teens have found their own spaces, albeit in unconventional places: the lawn in front of the bank in Belmont Center, the rocks near the train tracks, and even the local gas stations. Maybe this all just goes to show that, sometimes, you simply have to create your own space.
Siri Iagnemma is a Gen Z columnist for the Belmont Voice. She is a sophomore at Belmont High School and a writer for the school’s newspaper “Highpoint,” and is a member of BHS’s cross country and track teams.