225BatonRouge.com

Hannah Andrews can’t wait to leave Baton Rouge. In fact, she’s counting the days—295 until graduation next year. She’s a 16-year-old growing up in the Capital City, and she’s bored.

“There is nothing to do here (Baton Rouge),” she says. “I really like going out to see music, but that is almost impossible for me at my age. I have to wait for there to be festivals like Jazzfest and Voodoo but they just don’t happen very often.”

At 13 years old Jonah Andrews has just become a teen himself, but watching his older sister’s frustration and boredom has him feeling pessimistic. “There’s just never anything going on, and if there is, we don’t hear about it until it’s already happened.”

Plenty of teens are content playing sports, participating in organized groups or finding some niche or hobby. We asked dozens of Baton Rouge teens about growing up here. While adults these days seem to be patting themselves on the back for finally making Baton Rouge a dynamic place to live, teens feel left out. We’ve become a rambling, sprawling metropolitan area full of choices for adults, but for teens, not so much.

“We need a new place to hang out,” says Elise Piechocki, a sophomore at St. Joseph’s Academy. “Going to the movies and mall gets old, especially if we go out every weekend.”

Many teens say they’re tired of being treated like second-class citizens, hindered by their age and forgotten by a college town whose nights are built on football, live music and drinking. No longer children, they balance on the precipice of adulthood, yet aren’t treated as such. They drive, work jobs, go to school and are expected to make life-altering decisions about college and their future.

But God forbid they have a little fun. They just want to be entertained, or they’re leaving town—some just as soon as they’re old enough.

She’s only in 10th grade, but Piechocki already plans to bolt from Baton Rouge after graduation. “I love change, and I want to see what else is out there for me,” she says. “I wish Baton Rouge had more places to go besides the movies. I think change will put me in a better frame of mind.”

Turns out teen malaise transcends boundaries—black or white, rich or poor, private or public school, teens struggle with boredom. Their wishes and desires for more teen-oriented choices don’t seem unreasonable at all.

Adrienne Connelly, a sophomore at Runnels High School, wishes downtown had street artists, photo booths and open music shows at night.

Vinay Juneja, a senior at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, wants a teen club for dancing and a safe place to play paintball.

Trey Bacon, a senior at Episcopal, wishes Baton Rouge had more free outdoor concerts with music options other than bluegrass and jazz.

“Groovin’ on the Grounds is probably one of the few outdoor concerts we go to because they play the kind of music we like,” Bacon says.

Andrea Byrd, a junior at Zachary High School, has a very simple wish—for Zachary to get its own movie theater. Of course, Baton Rouge teens, who have six, complain that’s all there is.

Brian Andrews, Hannah and Jonah’s father, knows all too well how unhappy teens can be. He hears it every day. He’d like his kids to be able to remain here after school, so he hopes teens can connect with the compelling activities going on here.

“I don’t begrudge them for wanting to leave, I really don’t,” says Andrews.

Andrews and his wife grew up in the always-buzzing city of New Orleans, and after grad school moved to Dallas.

“Every national touring company came through Dallas, there was always a ton of things to do,” Andrews says. “But this (Baton Rouge) is where we wanted to raise a family. I don’t begrudge them at all for wanting to do the same thing, wanting to go, but it hurts me to hear them say, ‘This place sucks, there’s nothing to do here.’ ”

Andrews contends the sentiment isn’t completely justified. “No. 1, there are things to do here, they just don’t know about it, and No. 2, they need to stop bitching and start a revolution.”

But rather than rise up and revolt, many are simply rising up and moving on to greener pastures, applying to out-of-state colleges and universities. They leave to escape the mundane Baton Rouge teen social scene for vibrant cities like Houston, Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham. There, as young adults, they’ll be engaged and welcomed by weekend activities that include more than just dinner at Applebee’s and a movie at Citiplace.

“There are things going on, but it’s not enough,” says 18-year-old Whitney Blanco, a senior at Baton Rouge Magnet High. “There could be so much more.”

Blanco already has her calendar marked. She’s leaving Baton Rouge for college in Atlanta June 24, and doesn’t plan on returning anytime soon.

One of her classmates, Yao Li (Anna to her friends) is on a similar path, she just hasn’t picked her college yet. But judging by her navy blue Duke t-shirt and her resolve, she’s outta here.

Li says she needs to expose herself “to a new atmosphere in order to grow” as a person. She also points to a lack of cultural experiences available here, particularly in the arts. “Last summer I was a volunteer intern for the Baton Rouge Gallery, and they had little things like showing old black-and-white movies on Sundays and art openings, but none of it was really advertised well,” she says.

“Yeah, there might be great things going on, but if no one knows about them, what’s the point?”

Good point.

But how to spread the word of cool stuff for teens to do in this town?

Does anyone even care? Is there some cool, resourceful, free publication around here that could pull together a list of great ideas for teens that would make their dull, dreary lives more interesting?

Overwhelmingly, teens say they spend the majority of their time hanging out at local coffee shops, particularly CC’s, Starbucks and Coffee Call, but with limited funds in their pockets and a cup of coffee averaging $4, these weekend outings are often characterized by five or six teens hanging out for several hours, yet only purchasing a single cup between the group. This lopsided arrangement keeps money in their pockets, but is hurting local businesses.

John Cannatella, a second-generation owner of Coffee Call, says he tries to ward off this situation by making sure everyone who walks through his College Drive coffee shop makes a purchase.

“Are young people good for business? The answer is no,” he says.

“They hang around a bit longer and generally spend less money, on the flip-side, however, all business is good business. Since my father opened this place 32 years ago I’ve seen some of our customers come in to study, and you watch them grow up, and now they’re bringing their kids in. So, it’s a fine line.”