He offered three alternatives:

(a) that they enjoy the fresh air;

(b) they love the smiling face of the security guard; or

(c) they have nowhere else to go.

Well, if I may offer a fourth or fifth alternative, how about;

(d) because they lack the imagination to think of somewhere else to go; or

(e) some actually just want to hang out in a mall?

You hear that phrase all the time. "Kids these days have nowhere to go, nothing to do".

Nothing to do? Are you kidding? With all the cool stuff teenagers have these days? I reckon you'd have to really work at it to be bored. You'd have to be especially gifted at being boring.

Let's say, for argument's sake, it's not raining (I mean, we are talking about Ballarat here, the only time it rains is immediately after I wash my car or when I want to go for a ride on my bike). You could go bike riding, scooter riding, roller blading, roller skating, skateboarding, streetboarding _ anything really other than sitting on your backside.

Can't afford any of that? Probably not looking hard enough because you can buy a fold-up foot scooter for less than $20 at the Reject Shop. But let's go with that view for a second.

Well you can buy just about any ball you want for about $10. So you can kick a footy, soccer ball, play cricket, play basketball, netball, softball, baseball, "downball", hockey, hookey, bocce...

Can't afford to go anywhere to do these things? Well you could head over to Victoria Park, a skatepark, a car park, an oval, a bike track, a bush track.

But who says these teenagers are poor anyway? I have no doubt that some, even those who prowl Bridge Mall, have a collection of technological marvels, like mobile phones, iPhones, iPods and MP3 players, MP4 players, radio controlled cars, boats, trains, planes.

I suppose you can't always rely on the weather, and you can't expect teens to hang around at home. Because there's nothing to do there either, apart from television, Austar, VCR, DVD, Blueray, Playstation, XBox, Gamecube, Wii, Wiifit, computer, Internet, Myspace, Facebook or even just good old-fashioned BOOK.