Just the other day I was writing about how there are a group of parents, nowadays that believe in the Everybody Wins mentality, basically coddling their children and preventing them from having to face that someone may just be better at something than them. However, there is that other group of parents that let their children run wild and don’t set many limits. While the first group of parents annoy me, this second group of parents really makes me mad and scared for their children.
Canton, MI has a night club. No big deal. A lot of cities have night clubs. Only this night club is for teenagers; 13 to 19 year old, teenagers. I’ll let that sink in for a moment.
The After Dark Teen Club (was the After Dark name borrowed from 90210’s After Dark…) is a place where parents can drop off their teenagers for a night of fun and who knows what else. The parents don’t know what’s going on in the club…because they aren’t allowed in during club hours. That right there is a huge red flag to me. But then we have the age range, 13-19 years old. That is a recipe for disaster. Let’s take a look at a few things I noticed on their website…I’m sure they will bring up some concerns (as if the age hasn’t already) for you.
Age
On the homepage, there is a scrolling bar at the top that says “ages 13-19“, however when you click on the “About Us” section, it says that the club is for children 14-19 years old. Which is it? Here’s the real kicker about the age…on the homepage it says “No I.D. required if you look under 19“. Seriously? I was 22 years old and I was still being asked for my I.D. to see an R rated movie with my husband.
So we have 13 year old’s dancing in a club with people 19 years old and possibly older? Do parents really want their 13 year old children to be grinding on some 19 year old man?
Rules
They have four basic rules:
- Dress Code
- Loitering
- Behavior
- Searches
For the dress code, they want you to dress to impress. Impress who? I have no problem with the loitering one. Basically they want people to come in at the beginning and to immediately leave after. That makes sense to me. They do not tolerate any bullying, harassment, or drugs, alcohol or weapons (remember no weapons) to be brought into the club. This also makes sense to me. Anyone that enters the club, according to the rules section of their website, may be searched. Again, I am OK with this. It is for the safety of our twerking teens, right?
Again, there is a little discrepancy with their information on the website. Under the rules section it states that children may be searched, however, under “Parent info” it states the following:
Your child’s safety is our number one concern, for this reason, pat downs / searches are conducted to make sure no dangerous or illegal objects are brought into our environment.
Like I said before, I have no problem with searches being done upon entering the club, but who is patting down the kids? More specifically, who is patting down the girls?
Types of Events
Like most night clubs, The After Dark Teen Club offers theme nights. Some of those theme nights are:
- Naughty or Nice Christmas party
- Foam Party (not sure what this means, but I think I have an idea)
- Black Out Twerk party
Again, do we really want our 13 year old’s going to a place where parents are not allowed, so they can twerk it all night long with 19 year old’s?
What ever happened to 80’s night?
Are you seeing why I am alarmed here? The cost to attend one of these events is $5 for girls and $10 for guys. Now I know it is pretty typical to have the girls cost less (or be free) and there be a charge for guys, but for this age group, the girls should not be used to lure in more guys. Especially when the theme of the party is twerking.
Now I asked you to remember the part about no weapons. This past weekend, a 16 year old boy was shot. What happened to the pat downs? I’m really not sure how the security guards missed a gun during a pat down.
At any rate, pat downs or no pat downs, this shooting didn’t need to happen. These kids should not have been at that club. The city should not have allowed a club like this to open. But worst of all, what is wrong with the parents for sending their kids to something like this? This week a child was shot, next week will a parent be yelling statutory rape?
Oh…and I forgot to mention, when you let your teen walk through the doors, you are giving The After Dark Teen Club permission to take pictures and video your children all for promotional purposes. Check out the photos/images section on their site. Anyone remember Girls Gone Wild videos…?
This club disgusts me. The parents that send their kids here, disgust me. The owner, Fred Hussein, disgusts me.
That’s just all kinds of wrong. I wouldn’t want my 13 year old hanging out with 19 year olds – especially if I’m not “allowed” around them. I’m not the type of parent to hover at all, but when someone specifically tells me I’m not allowed access to my child then we’ve got a problem.
I agree. I may take my kids if I could stay. I realize that’s not “cool”, but no way would they be there alone.
I’m not a parent, and as an almost 23 year old, even I see the problems you mention. I also want to add that I look extremely young for my age. If not for my tattoos, I could easily pass off for a minor. Essentially meaning if I wanted to prey on teen girls, I’d have the ability to do it without the parents even knowing. That scares me, especially considering I doubt the “nightclub”‘s staff are concerned for the children.
How much do you want to bed the males who work there spend a lot of time staring at the teenage girls? On top of that, what else exactly happens in this “club”? Teen sex? I wouldn’t doubt it.
I still don’t understand how twerking is considered a dance, and how teenagers can be allowed to do it. If I had a daughter, and I even suspected she was twerking, she would be grounded until she moved out. Extreme? Unfair? Yep, but no daughter of mine will be grinding against a guy, especially when she’s 13.
This “club”, which, in reality is just a teenage horndog fest, should be shut down immediately. There is absolutely no reason for a “club” such as this.
I agree Tim. It’s disgusting.
I know for sure that if that place had been around when my daughters were teens, they would not have been going there. No way. Parents who think it is ok for their little girls to go to a dance with 19 year olds, and no chaperones to speak of around, should not be surprised if something happens to their kid. We all should be using common sense, and a club like that is never commone sense.