Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Does your community have a Teen Room?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jan 15, 2013, at 1:34 PM, Holly McNutt <holly.mcnutt [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> We now have a pretty big crop of teenagers and a couple of parents have 
> thrown out the idea of once again having a Teen Room just for them.

This came up in our community a few years ago. We designated a room is a "game 
room" and bought a Wii and large screen TV. A few other things. Painted it an 
atrocious color. We also agreed that teens took precedence in the room. There 
had been a real problem that adults were telling kids to leave rooms where they 
were watching tv because the adults were having a meeting. 

The game room is not reserved by adults, though they do meet in there when 
there are no kids there.

In fact, very few teens use the room—ever. Some young adults used it a lot 
during one period. The ages and stages change so quickly nothing lasts for long.

The Initial impetus for a teen room came from unhappy teens and in my opinion, 
parents who wouldn't listen to those who had already raised teen agers. The 
"senior" parents said no matter what you do, teens will complain that they 
don't get enough attention, that adults push them around, and that little kids 
receive favoritism. It's the condition of being a teenager. 

What many people do feel is a need for an active play space with a pingpong or 
pool table and room for young kids to run around in the winter or on rainy 
days. For intergenerational activities. The game room is far too small for 
this.  Setting up a pingpong table in the dining room is possible and done but 
it means moving furniture and limits other activities due to noise.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org