Multiple Oak Park community members joined the village board meeting on Nov. 4 to give public comment on the “teen takeover” incidents that occurred on Halloween, including a teen who was there herself.
Juanta Griffin and her daughter Adeyemi Griffin were the first to speak, offering a different perspective on not just the events of Oct. 31, but driving forces behind the “chaos.”
“This past Halloween, it was disturbing to say the least,” Juanta said. “Someone lost their life. Someone was badly assaulted. Teens were in the streets. The police were everywhere, herding children down the streets.”
She said that teens are going to come to Oak Park, those who live here and those from neighboring communities, and “the bigger thing is not just to prepare for the war. I think at this time we should be prepared for the welcome.”
Adeyemi Griffin shared her experience as a teen amidst the chaos.
She went to Lake Street with her friends to find something to do, and said they were originally supposed to go to a block party that was shut down by police. Ultimately, she asked her mother to pick them up because they were “bored.”
“Halloween isn’t really fun anymore when you get around teenage age,” Adeyemi said. “There isn’t really anything to do anymore besides maybe like stay in the house or go to parties with your friends, and those aren’t really even fun anymore, so there’s really nothing to do.”
She shared experiences of other friends who live in Hyde Park that has a community organized block party teens can attend and enjoy, and she called on Oak Park to create something similar.
“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are communities that are doing this and it’s working,” Juanta said.
She spoke to the gap in activities and spaces for teens in Oak Park beyond just Halloween, saying most community programming focuses on younger children and existing programs like Teens in Motion at the YMCA being cut.
“There’s so much opportunity for programming that right now, Oak Park, we’re at this precipice where we can meet this challenge and we can do something big and great,” Juanta said.
Trustees Jim Taglia, Derek Eder, Jenna Leving Jacobson and President Vicki Scaman all shared their interest in addressing those gaps in their closing statements.
“I don’t think the problem can be solved simply by just hiring more cops. I think, in fact, we’re maybe trying to solve the wrong problem,” Eder said. “It seems like we’re treating all teens like potential criminals and not what they are, kids.”
Taglia acknowledged that there used to be things for teens to do when he was growing up. He said that he would like to see other taxing bodies within the village take on some of the responsibility of creating solutions, especially the Township.
“The Township should take the lead on any such program that may come forth because they have a youth and family services division, currently with a budget of about a quarter million dollars a year,” Taglia said.
Leving Jacobson agreed with Taglia’s call on the Township, but also said the Oak Park Library has had the most interest in helping with the challenge. Eder also said the village should be partnering with “District 200, Parks, the Township, the Library, to welcome teens and give them something to do.”
“All of the sentiment that I’m hearing tonight is sentiment that I firmly agree with as a community,” Scaman said. “I think it’s looking for the right people to lead on those activities … we’re one village, we’re one community, but everybody plays their part.”