Last night at Brownwood, in the last hour there was a small group of about 6 preteens/teens goofing around on the dance floor during break (just being silly and jumpin' around to the music). One lady beside me (a newbie) said "I wonder where those kids come from....." and I thought "oh oh...here we go....."
But soon they formed a Conga line and some grandma types joined them and they went around the whole dance floor a few times, giggling together and they were fun to watch.
The adult thing to do is talk to the kids personally, individually, as if they are good people and not a "mob" that's up to no good. Chances are, they'll fulfill the expectation we set. If you talk to them as though they're worth something, they will probably respond likewise! Nobody responds kindly to being treated as worthless and up to no good. A lot of kids come from single parent and broken homes and would love to have some attention from the kind souls here in TV.
Talk to them!
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