Mayor, Council Should Work Together To Provide Teens Recreational Help

Sometimes, no matter how well-intentioned, new projects don’t make good policy and must be tweaked or changed to fit the desired objective. And if you have two projects with the same objective, there should be a blending of efforts to make them more in harmony and perhaps, ultimately, a successful policy.

That seems to be the case at hand in Niagara Falls, where it seems there are two projects getting attention at City Hall, looking to provide structured late-night recreational opportunities for teenagers, one from Mayor Robert Restaino’s office and the second being talked about by city lawmakers.

While the ideas are well-intentioned, both have the same problem in the view of this observer: they run too late into the night and would deny teenagers the sleep they need to be at their best.

Yes, let’s make the point that sleep is critically important for teenagers, according to most of the experts in this area, who believe that teens need 8-10 hours nightly for healthy brain development, emotional regulation, and physical growth. Insufficient sleep causes memory, concentration, and motivation issues, while increasing risks of depression, accidents, and weakened immune systems.

That’s a lot to consider when the new projects under consideration might last until 10 or 10:30 at night, too late to get the teenagers home in time to get the sleep they need and still get up in time to make their classes in the morning.

As reported by veteran journalist Rick Pfeiffer of the Niagara Gazette, Mayor Restaino’s plan would include a partnership between the city and the local Boys & Girls Club to create a safe, supervised environment for older teens—particularly those ages 16 to 18—during evening hours. The project is in response to concerns about a lack of available activities for teenagers during later hours of the day, with an emphasis of giving young people a constructive place to spend time rather than be unsupervised.

Meanwhile, members of the City Council are reportedly also pursuing efforts to restart a Night Gym-style program, sort of a parallel effort to the mayor’s idea. It is sort of a competitive initiative and might be better if coordinated with the mayor’s and addresses the concern—and it is a big one of denying teens the sleep they need. The council initiative is tied to efforts by Councilmember Bridget Myers, who has publicly discussed similar programs to engage teens in things like gun violence elimination. Funding of course, would be needed.

This writer would suggest that the mayor and city lawmakers get on the same page and develop a policy that unites the objectives and aims to address the important sleep deprivation issue, which, as we noted in the beginning, is most important. Coming together might lead to one project with a common objective that would address concerns and lead to a successful policy.