Each year graduates flock to the Ocean City boardwalk for one last fling. Delmarva Public Media's Kevin Diaz has this look at - what has become - a boost to the local economy. Colin Bright provided assistance for this story.
Senior week in Ocean City, Maryland, as well as other beach towns, has a long tradition. It actually runs the entire month of June, when waves of high school graduates flock to the freedom of the sea. But for the teenagers of the Gen Z generation, the vibe is not so loud as it once was. We sent Kevin Diaz to the Ocean City boardwalk, and he brings us these observations.
When I was asked to cover senior week in Ocean City, the annual parade of high school grads descending on the beach in June, my thoughts went straight to James Dean.
Okay, I'm in trouble. Jim, what happened? What kind of trouble are you in?
But it's not all rebels without a cause. No drag races, knife fights, teen drinking. Well, maybe a little bit of teen drinking. Old timers remember how senior week once was. Take Danny King, one of the original purveyors of cotton candy and funnel cakes on the boardwalk.
“It was all teenagers,” King recalled.
But in recent years, something changed. City police stepped up enforcement, prices went up, and maybe teenagers traded their souped up hot rods for high speed internet, so perhaps so-called junebugs have quieted down. But according to Ocean City mayor Rick Meehan, they're still coming.
“In this region, it's one of those rite of passages. Everybody has to come to Ocean City,” said Meehan.
While big crowds of teens sometimes cause problems in the past, Meehan says the young visitors are now seen as a net plus for the city's tourism industry, helping jump start the summer season in June. It helps that the teens, armed with technology, now know how to spread out a little bit more.
“Things have changed over the years. I think more so some of the issues that took place years ago on the boardwalk was just because the overwhelmingly large number of people in a very confined area. And whenever that happens anywhere, you're more likely to have issues,” Meehan explained.
But social media, Meehan says, has changed youth behavior.
“Today, rather than everybody having to go to one location to find their friends or to find out what they're going to do tonight or this or that, actually, which is the way it was when I came here. With social media in a way, people can connect. They can schedule to meet and be other places. So we've seen the crowds of the high school graduates really expand throughout the entire town. They're not just on the boardwalk,” said Meehan.
Social media has given Gen Z more discrete ways to gather, dispersing them to the beaches, bonfires, or private parties, sometimes in Airbnbs. Here's Ashley Miller, a police spokeswoman.
“I will say it definitely has changed. They're still here. But what we actually have seen really this year and last year is instead of the recent graduates being more on the boardwalk like we saw five, ten years ago, they actually more so enjoy doing beach bonfires. And we see them more on the north end of town, at Hundredth Street and above, where they congregate out on the beach in large groups. They get the bonfire permits. So they're still here. They've just kind of shifted their activities and what they're interested in,” Miller observed.
That can still cause problems. But police feel like technology, including use of cameras, gives them an edge on trouble. Giving the boardwalk a more family friendly vibe for everyone.
“Most of them are good, but some of them might, they're trying to mess up with the things or trying to mess up with the workers.”
That's Dean Adrio, a summer worker from Nepal, selling funnel cakes and lemonade on the boardwalk near Third Street.
“Most of them are good, but few of them, they get messy,” Adrio admitted.
For Danny King, who's been on the boardwalk his entire life, not much has changed since the family cotton candy stand opened up in 1944, except that everything costs more.
“They all got money. They ain't broke. They're all, thank God for that,” said King.
For Rick Meehan, the mayor, the so-called June bugs not only represent business, but the future.
“They're going to be the people who have families that come back and visit here in later years. We want them to have a good experience in Ocean City,” said Meehan.
With Colin Bright, this is Kevin Diaz for Delmarva Public Media.
