In recent months, the City of Philadelphia has been the scene of flash mobs—large groups of youth that meet in parts of the city via text message—with the goals of vandalizing, stealing, and causing disruptions to those going about their day in the city. Just this week, Mayor Michael Nutter placed a curfew on youth in Philadelphia, making it illegal for them to be downtown after 9 p.m. without a chaperone. Although Mayor Nutter’s response will hopefully curb the violence resulting from the flash mobs, it doesn’t get at the root of the problem. Thankfully, he is also lengthening the hours of local civic centers and recreation centers.

At its core, the flash-mob problem is the result of youth having little to do and being without structure. Imagine if all of the energy put into planning the flash mobs was put into doing something constructive. These youths are craving adult…

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