An Undeserved Black Eye For Seaside Heights

I grew up in Seaside Heights in the 60’s and 70’s and I can’t imagine there were too many places better to be a kid.  We walked to school, hung out at The Sweet Shoppe, had plenty of places for sports and games and for nine months a year had the beach and boardwalk pretty much to ourselves.  As we became teen-agers we also had our choice of places for summer employment.

For me that meant the boardwalk where my father operated a handful of amusement games.  While much has changed one thing has not…Memorial Day Weekend was the best and worst of the entire season.  While it was great for business it also meant dealing with tons of teen-agers who thought the town was their playground and in some cases trouble was their middle name.

Which brings to mind last weekend in which Seaside Heights made the news for all the wrong reasons.  Unruly juveniles and adults made life miserable for law enforcement and those just looking to enjoy the holiday that marks the unofficial start for summer.  So what has changed over the years?  Social media is the driving force behind large groups meeting up which often turns into fights and chaos.  I’ll be honest there were plenty of problems back in the “old days” but you really didn’t hear about that which is why social media can be so toxic.

Fingers were pointed in many directions from parents, hotel owners, the judicial system and more. Bottom line is that many young people have no fear or even respect for law enforcement which is not a Seaside problem but a national one.

I will tell you that once you get through prom and graduation season things will get much better and you will see many more families and strollers in town.  Seaside Heights has worked very hard to improve their image but as a former public relations official used to say, “we can’t stop every vehicle coming across the bridge to see if we want them in our town or not.”