Living Streets Association | 2023 June

Street events like Easter Egg Hunts and Halloween Trick or Treating always see gaggles of children and their parents out having fun and interacting with other neighbours. However, as these children grow older, they start to feel these activities are too childish for them, or they feel a disconnect from the street because they don’t relate to the young kids or the adults. Many parents we have met have said they wished their teenage kids would go hang out on the street with their communities more, and others have expressed their frustration at their children’s addictions to video games and screens.

On our particular street, there are many teenage boys who are too shy to come onto the street and prefer to stay inside playing video games. That is why we set up the projector screen and borrowed a Nintendo Switch to play Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros on the Street! The winter air was filled with shouts and laughs from the competitive boys as they played the games. They took turns on the remotes, chatted in between games, and got to know each other better.

We’re glad that this simple set-up was able to bring the teenagers onto the street to hang out!