When watching any early 2000’s TV show that centers around teens, there’s almost always one thing in common between all of them. From Luke’s Diner when watching “Gilmore Girls” to The Bait Shop when watching “The O. C”, all these teenagers have a place to go hang out.  

As the digital era continues to get stronger and more powerful, there has been a significant decrease in third spaces. Third spaces can be defined as the term to describe places outside of home, school and work where people relax and get involved within their community.  

Before the rise of the digital age, teens had a mass amount of third spaces that they could go to on the weekends or even after school. Places like the mall, roller skating rinks, dinners, arcades, and cafes were all thriving due to teenagers going there. Now, places like the mall are dead due to the rise of online shopping and most roller-skating rinks don’t even exist anymore. This shift has reduced casual interactions that used to be a normal part of teen life. 

 Jaden Guirguis, sophomore at Battlefield High School talked about the lack of events he can attend due to needing rides by stating, “If I want to go anywhere, I usually have to carpool but most of the time I have to Uber because it’s a hassle to find rides everywhere.” 

In this day and age, it is prevalent that pre-teens are no longer a phase since pre-teens engage in most activities teenagers do. Most clothes in stores are cropped mature clothing when there used to be Justice, a store marketed towards pre-teens. With pre-teens losing the aspect of growing up, the need for third spaces depreciates while there is a surge for social media. 

The loss of third spaces plays a significant role in teen behavior and loneliness. Since 2023, there have been multiple incidents of teen takeovers that have even led to arrests. The most recent teen takeover took place in Detroit from April 11-12. Teen takeovers are when teenagers raid a single area and usually are causing a disruption that can even get violent. 

However, multiple teen takeovers have taken place in nearby areas such as D.C. On April 4th, a teen takeover in the Waterfront area led to the arrest of eight teenagers. This specific teen takeover led council members to find ways to mitigate it from happening again and also finding what “gaps in the community” there is.  

Teen takeovers could be possibly happening due to the lack of social connections and an increase in boredom among teens. Teens evidently show that they need social times and with the lack of third spaces violent and disrupting events occur. 

Isolationism also stems from the lack of third space. With social media replacing what third spaces once used to be teens lack social engagement outside of school during the most critical time of their lives. The feeling of isolationism among young adults and teenagers has increased each year, starting from 1976 until 2019.  

However, third spaces are not completely gone. There are still cafes and libraries that students may be at, but lots of teens feel like they still don’t have places to go. 

Mariam Nasr, sophomore at Gainesville High School, stated, “The only place [I go to] is probably football games because my brother can drive me. Other than that Promenade is the only option and it gets boring.” 

In the end, prevalent teens need a place to go. With a resurgence in third spaces, it can call for a more unified community and allow people to feel like they belong somewhere.