Hundreds of teens attend Summer Jam Series with no incidents

CHARLOTTE, N.C- Mecklenburg County is hosting a series of sold out parties for teens, there have been several of the events so far with no incidents.

Meanwhile, city officials are considering a 9:00 curfew for anyone under 18.

Hundreds of teens filled the Eastway Recreation Center for Teen Summer Jam Friday night.

“It gives us a good safe place a lot of things to do and a whole bunch of people you can meet,” 14 year old Jace Jackson said.

The events are for kids 18 and younger to play basketball, hang with friends, play games and make memories. CMPD officers are on the property and kids walk through metal detectors to come inside.

“You know nothing crazy is going to happen around here and you can have fun that’s important to me,” 15 year old Andrew Brown said.

Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation superintendent Justin Jackson was a part of the group that organized the Teen Summer Jam series. They got the idea from an initiative in Baltimore, Maryland.

“The teen group, I think, has kind of been looked over throughout the past years, and they’ve been very vocal about not having anything to do,” Jackson said. “So we want to make it our core program to make sure we have activities for the teens during the summer.”

Charlotte City officials are dealing with teen takeovers. Kids meet up in public locations and sometimes cause chaos, property damage and even violence. To fix the problem, city council is considering a 9:00 curfew for kids 18 and younger. Right now, the curfew is 11:00 for ages 13 to 15 and 10:00 for those under 12.

Some parents say a 9:00 curfew is unreasonable.

“I don’t think that’s practical, it’s a little invasive,” Parent Delores Munoz said. “I think parents should be able to use their discretion it should not be mandated by the state or the city.”

While city council debates the curfew some teens are grateful to have a safe place at Summer Jam.

“Stuff happens and you know have a lot of cops and a bunch of people around so you know we gon’ be safe so I appreciate Mecklenburg County Parks and Rec for doing that,” 14 year old Darae Henderson said.

These Teen Summer Jams are happening for the next two weeks but they are sold out. There are still spots at the pool party happening August 7th. City council will vote on the curfew in august when they return from summer break.