Bismarck, North Dakota News

" since i moved to fargo and am now 30 something my friends and i enjoy late night coffee runs to places like denny's, perkins, or the ihop and engage in conversations, telling jokes and whatever this was a very popular choice of entertainment when no one was in the mood to go to a bar or drink. granted you don't have to drink coffee can order soda as well but we would also order an appatizer or pie as well. why wasn't this thought of when i was a teen and why isn't this an alternitive option now. servers usually don't mind if its at odd hours and not during lunch, dinner or breakfast rushes and as long as a tip of some kind is left for the server for constantly refilling coffee or sodas. and some servers don't mind conversation as long as they have time. "

" Adults and teenager have to find their own non-alcoholic safe entertainment. I and other adults are not responsible for your entertainment. Just as no one was responsible for mine 50 odd years ago. We had only three movie theatres and little else, but we survived to become well-balanced adults. We had to be creative and find our own safe legal entertainment. "

" I hear in the 1890's there were buildings where you could ride bicycles in circles. Much later roller skating rinks were the rage. Refrigeration technology made indoor ice-skating possible. In modern days really large cities are build on major harbors or freeways. Even then people can usually drive, often less than 50 miles out of town, to rent a horse to ride. I remember doing exactly that one day when as a teenager with a car and double dating. We even took the horses up to a gallop for a short distance. It was an amazing experience, but for this city kid would be just once in a lifetime. Going to the beach for a splash and a sunburn was normal but riding a horse was surreal. Times just keep on changing and teenagers keep on hunting for something new to do. I think colleges should support programs where real college students would show how exciting different subjects can be. Sometimes kids learn best from other young people. No, that would not work. Next thing you know Bismarck would have a low cost Junior College or some un-American thing like that. Next you know kids would be going out in boats taking water samples and looking at critters under microscopes. Maybe kids would learn how topsoil was once a rock, and that the atoms in that rock became grass, or a tree or some corn. Eventually the calcium, potassium, iron, sodium, and other atoms in that rock became part of your dog or cat. No that would not work, no one would buy that in this day and age. "

" To: there is a teen center. Too bad it's a well kept secret. In larger cities I'ved lived in a place like that would have had posters and handbills around to let people know it was there. The message has to get to the people you want to read it. "

" Youthworks on Rosser has a beautiful gathering spot open every Tuesday night with open mic night. It is a great little place. Pool table, refreshments, guitar hero setup, updated decor , a really nice hang out, but a well kept secret. Check it out. Maybe the Tribune should run a story on it. "

" Drinking alcohol is a choice made by individuals, teenages and adults alike. If they think its a part of recreation... life will pass them by rather quickly. Bismarck and the surounding area has a wealth of things to do as pointed out by Mr. Harper, its just individuals need to get off their dead butts and go out and do them. No community owes its population things to do. "

" Many years ago when I was a teenager Bismarck had a Teen Center where us teenagers could go hang out. They had pinball machines (this was way before video machine tech, kind of like the stone age) snack bar, had weekend dances and also had one of the nicest slot car racing tracks in the area. I used to spend a lot of time racing my slot cars with my friends. IT WAS GREAT.It also kept us off the streets. Its to bad that you Mr. Harper feel that the city dosen't need to provide a service for our youth like this. The way I look at it the city has dumped money one dumber things and I feel that if it serves the publics need for their children I'm all for it. After all our kids are our future.You sir have a great day. "

" Why oh why, doesn't the Tribune approve my comments that drinking and cruising when you are young is just too much fun. Honestly, unless your youth center provides free intoxication and the opportunity for sex, then it will not succeed. These are the things these kids are after. Go ahead and stick your head in the sand, and pretend it is not so. You were young, and you were there too. Must we repeat this every generation? Haven't we learned anything? Is this why social change is so painstakingly slow? "

" there's not much to do for adults either in bismarck that doesn't center around drinking alcohol. "