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During the school year, on the Sunday night before a Monday holiday (like last night), a downtown San Francisco club gives over its facility for "Glow," a teen club night. You have to be "invited"--invitations apparently go out via Facebook, and it's not exactly a difficult get. You have to bring your high school ID. The thing runs from 8-midnight, give or take, and no child is permitted to leave until his/her parent comes to get them, or they are escorted to their car. The kids go, dance their asses off (most girls wear shorts because it gets so hot, even when it's 45 degrees out, and when they leave the club they are hunched over against the cold, but exhilarated as they can be). It costs $15 per kid to get in; they have a fabulous time. And, whether the kids notice it or not, it is all brought about by the goodwill and concern of adults.
Think about it. This club is way the hell and gone out of the way (at Harrison and 3rd, in the SOMA district, a good ten minutes' walk down fairly deserted streets, in the dark) from public transportation. So the kids drive, or are driven there. The club has a whole passel of "Security" folk who check them into the club and check them out again. Plus, the police maintain a presence. In a town where gangs are a problem at the high school level, this is not just a good idea, it's a very good idea. And then there are the parents who show up, as I did, at midnight, to pick up their kids. The area was thronged with cars picking up laughing, tired teens, and parents who had parked on a side street and come to fetch their kids on foot. That's a lot of adults as a fairly invisible presence. I am sure that there's drinking off site, and drugs, but inside the club they're strict in a not-too-visible way.
I am sure that the police department is compensated for being on site; I imagine the adults get some sort of payment. Then there's the venue, and the DJs and other people who work the club. I don't know that $15/head covers the whole cost; if it does, no one is making a profit. But the kids get to go have a club experience in as safe a setting as possible, because adults thought that was a good thing to do.
And that pleases me.
PS: Avocado and her friend had a smashing time.
Think about it. This club is way the hell and gone out of the way (at Harrison and 3rd, in the SOMA district, a good ten minutes' walk down fairly deserted streets, in the dark) from public transportation. So the kids drive, or are driven there. The club has a whole passel of "Security" folk who check them into the club and check them out again. Plus, the police maintain a presence. In a town where gangs are a problem at the high school level, this is not just a good idea, it's a very good idea. And then there are the parents who show up, as I did, at midnight, to pick up their kids. The area was thronged with cars picking up laughing, tired teens, and parents who had parked on a side street and come to fetch their kids on foot. That's a lot of adults as a fairly invisible presence. I am sure that there's drinking off site, and drugs, but inside the club they're strict in a not-too-visible way.
I am sure that the police department is compensated for being on site; I imagine the adults get some sort of payment. Then there's the venue, and the DJs and other people who work the club. I don't know that $15/head covers the whole cost; if it does, no one is making a profit. But the kids get to go have a club experience in as safe a setting as possible, because adults thought that was a good thing to do.
And that pleases me.
PS: Avocado and her friend had a smashing time.