Viral 'Teen Takeover' trend is causing trouble in some communities

+ National Viral 'Teen Takeover' trend is causing trouble in some communities August 2, 20265:02 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Noor Nazir Viral 'Teen Takeover' trend is causing trouble in some communities Listen &middot; 4:14 4:14 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5910656/nx-s1-9872496" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Communities across the country are dealing with "Teen Takeovers" this summer.

+ Sponsor Message Transcript ROB SCHMITZ, HOST: Teen takeovers have become a concern in cities across the country. The social media trend involves teenagers holding large spontaneous gatherings in public places. While it may sound harmless, these gatherings can be disruptive, and some have turned violent, prompting cities to look for solutions. Noor Nazir with WFAE in Charlotte spoke with teenagers about what they think would make them feel safer.

+ NOOR NAZIR, BYLINE: The invitation is a blank Instagram note with only two letters, DT. Fifteen-year-old Saria Thomas got that message from a friend on Instagram. SARIA THOMAS: They put DT on their note and put a question mark, and then everybody would just go down there on that day. NAZIR: DT stands for downtown. Thomas went along with hundreds of other teenagers. (CROSSTALK) NAZIR: She recorded teens running through the streets, laughing and screaming. Thomas says teenagers go to socialize, not to cause trouble. SARIA: Like, the teen takeovers would be fun. Like, getting to know new people, that would be fun. NAZIR: She also saw signs of danger and recorded it. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Screaming) Ah. (SCREAMING) SARIA: You see fights sometimes. It's dangerous. You see police chasing teenagers. That's what you mostly see when it goes down, and you just see people running out of nowhere. It's like, you got to run too. NAZIR: Thomas says a fight can break out when someone sees an op - slang for an opponent. These gatherings are happening across the country. Charlotte offers one example of how quickly they can turn violent. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson says a 16-year-old shot two other teens in mid-June. Three weeks later, another takeover was expected, and they were prepared, she says. ESTELLA PATTERSON: I am confident that the only reason we did not have another shooting or a major incident was because we had over 200 officers in a small geographic area working. NAZIR: Patterson says that level of policing is not sustainable. She now wants a 9 p.m. curfew for everyone under 18 - a proposal now before the city council. Curfews already exist in more than 400 communities nationwide. In Washington, D.C., for example, police can disperse groups of teens after 8 p.m. In Charlotte, the county is also trying alternatives. (SOUNDBITE OF SNEAKERS SQUEAKING) NAZIR: Inspired by the teen programs in Baltimore, they created the Teen Summer Jam. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) NAZIR: Inside a rec center, past police cars and a row of metal detectors, hundreds of teens play basketball, video games or paint. Others play cards and make music. All the while, the smell of popcorn, cookies and pizza is in the air. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I'm telling you that ball was in the air. NAZIR: Seventeen-year-old Marques Durgan is hanging out with friends in a small recording studio. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) NAZIR: What are you guys doing in here? MARQUES DURGAN: We trying to make a raw beat, and we're going to see what we can do with that. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) DURGAN: Yeah. But we got mans right here... UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I'm one. DURGAN: ...Making it right here. NAZIR: Durgan has seen what happens at teen takeovers. He would rather be here. DURGAN: It's a better outlet to, like - rather scream into the microphones than rather do some violence, you know? NAZIR: Mecklenburg County recreation superintendent Justin Jackson says there needs to be more programs like this. JUSTIN JACKSON: We listen to our teens. A lot of times, they say that they're overlooked, that they don't feel like they're heard. So we decided to listen and provide quality programming in a safe environment for them. NAZIR: This is not enough to prevent teen takeovers in the city, and adding a curfew won't do it either, say teens like Saria Thomas. SARIA: Oh, no. That's like me being 11 years old, and that's my bedtime. Like, no. I - no. If it's, like, that curfew around the summertime - no. They're not going to like that. They're going to stay outside. NAZIR: Her friend, 15-year-old Kahmaijah Smith, says teens need more spaces where they can gather without feeling pressure to spend money. KAHMAIJAH SMITH: Teenagers deserve spaces too. I feel like we do deserve a free space that represents us as people and as a community. NAZIR: She wonders, where are teenagers supposed to go? A curfew, she says, is unlikely to stop teenagers from following social media to the next teen takeover. For NPR News, I'm Noor Nazir in Charlotte. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. 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