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Hello and happy Friday! Carly Sitrin here with Chalkbeat Philly.

Our top story today is about the recent trend of teen takeovers — pop-up events involving large groups of young people that spread on social media and occasionally get broken up by police. Young people say when they get together with groups of friends in public areas, they often feel overly scrutinized and are calling for greater investment in "third spaces," where they can gather safely with friends.

As part of our reporting process, Sammy Caiola and I read many news articles emphasizing the danger of these takeovers. But we found that very few of those stories included the voices of the teens themselves.

For our story, Sammy spoke with a number of thoughtful students who said they understand that things can sometimes get out of hand when kids link up, but that the solution shouldn't be banning them from all public spaces. Read more in the full story here.

Have a question or story idea? Reach us at [email protected].

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