Safe & Sound Hillsborough launches positive alternative to teen takeovers

In response to the “teen takeovers’’ that often lead to fights and arrests, Safe & Sound Hillsborough has organized positive teen gatherings that attract hundreds of kids.

The disruptive takeovers, often fueled by social media, have occurred in large cities like Atlanta and New York, and locally in Tampa and Clearwater Beach. Safe & Sound Hillsborough, a nonprofit agency with a mission to prevent teen violence, launched its effort after the early May teen takeover at Tampa’s Curtis Hixon Park. On that day, fights broke out, traffic was interrupted, and 22 teens – all but four under age 18 – were arrested on gun possession, assault, and other charges, says Safe & Sound Hillsborough Executive Director Freddy Barton.

Events have included “Kings and Queens of the Court,” a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for boys and girls held at Tampa’s MLK Recreation Center. The event also included an online gaming competition, designated areas for teens to create videos, an arts and crafts corner, a parents resource and relaxation center, and food.

Next up is “Battle of the Bases,” a kickball and Madden Gaming tournament scheduled from 7 p.m. to midnight on July 25 at the Larry Sanders Sports Complex near Progress Village. There will be live music and food. Parents and guardians are invited.

Launched as the #SafeSummerSeries initiative, the teen gatherings will drop “summer’’ from the name and continue during the school year, Barton says. The program is funded by the Children’s Board of Hillsborough and the Hillsborough County Commission.

“We have so far had 500 young people at our first two events that have come together with no negative incidents, no arrests, no disruptions, no fights,” Barton says. “This proves our point that the majority of our kids just want to have fun.”

The teen takeover concept is nothing new, he says. He recalls senior skip day in high school, when the senior class would skip school and gather at a beach, a park, or mall. But they didn’t have social media 30 years ago. Kids who took part in senior skip day knew the kids they met, or at least knew that they were classmates, he points out.

“You had a connection,” he says. “Now, the difference is in 2026, these kids can pop up a message and hundreds of kids who they don’t know, who they have no connection to, are all assembled. And because young people don’t have anger management skills, life skills, the de-escalation skills that you learn when you’re 25 or 30… pulling all those individuals together creates a possibly tumultuous environment.”

Soon after the Curtis Hixon melee, Barton gathered with representatives from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Tampa Police Department, Hillsborough County Schools, and the Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department to plan a positive event as a counterpoint. Two teenagers, Russell Stanley Jr. and Bryan Hunter, also helped plan the #SafeSummerSeries initiative and events. The events kicked off in June with a 7v7 flag football tournament.

There’s also a social media challenge for teams of teens to make short videos on positive topics. The videos are posted on Safe & Sound Hillsborough’s Instagram, and the three teams with the most likes and reposts win between $100 and $200 per person.

Safe & Sound Hillsborough started in 2015. Its leadership council includes representatives from the Tampa, Temple Terrace, and Plant City police departments, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the 13^th Judicial Circuit, public defender and state attorney offices, Hillsborough County Commission, Children’s Board, University of South Florida criminology department, the School Board of Hillsborough County, and the nonprofit Corporations to Develop Communities of Tampa, Inc.

Courts send teens charged with gun possession to Safe & Sound Hillsborough to learn the consequences of such behavior. They hear from people who spent decades in prison for gun crimes and families of victims of gun violence.

“We have anywhere between 60 and 70 youths in our program every single day,’’ Barton says.

When 83 Degrees interviewed Barton, nine of the 22 teens arrested in the Curtis Hixon takeover were in week five of a six-week “Responsibility Matters’’ course. All were offered the option, but only nine showed up, Barton says. When they complete the course, their charges will be dropped. The course provides a different lesson each week: accountability and consequences; decision making and peer pressure; violence prevention and conflict skills; substance awareness and healthy coping; community responsibility and leadership; and future planning and personal growth.

“They’re doing a community service project and writing open letters of apology that we are going to publish, all in the effort to understand the long-term consequences of participating in negative behavior,” Barton says.

For more information, go to SafeSummerSeries