‘Don’t fall on a needle’: When you’re a kid in Kensington, it’s not safe to play outside

The summer is one of the worst times to live in Kensington. At least in my parents’ opinion. This is the time when crime goes up, and the neighborhood becomes the most dangerous.

So while many people picture Philly kids riding out the heat by squealing with delight in front of hoses and open fire hydrants, most of the time during the summer, my siblings and I weren’t allowed to go outside.

When we were allowed out, our parents had strict rules: Stay right in front of the house, don’t talk to strangers; if someone tries to talk to you, come back inside; if you fall, make sure you don’t land on a needle.

However, as a kid, I noticed that when we left Kensington, the rules often changed. For example, when we would visit my grandmother in Queens, we were allowed to ride our scooters outside, as long as we stayed on her block. It felt amazing — the fresh air, the exercise, meeting other kids who lived nearby. Most of the time in Kensington, our scooters stayed locked up inside with us.

Obeying these rules seemed unfair to me as a child, especially when I saw other kids in Kensington being able to go outside and play. Now, at 15, I understand my parents and why they set up the rules that they did. They didn’t want us to get hurt.

When I was younger, I would have liked to just play rather than worry about stepping on needles. I would’ve liked to use chalk on the sidewalk and make friends in the neighborhood. I’m sure my 7-year-old brother and 11-year-old sister would have liked the same.

I would’ve liked to use chalk on the sidewalk and make friends in the neighborhood.

We also would have liked to be able to ride our bikes outside our house. Don’t get me wrong — we do ride them, and quite often. We just don’t do so in our area. Sometimes we go to a park that’s about a five-minute drive away. My parents like us to experience different things, so sometimes we go all the way to New Jersey, just for ice cream.

Having siblings made staying inside during the long summer months a bit easier. Unlike outside, when we’re inside, there aren’t many rules (except no horseplay). We would watch movies, play Roblox together, and sometimes bake recipes we found on TikTok. But when you can only hang out with one or two people, you get tired of one another.

Now that I am older, my parents have trusted me to go outside a bit more often. When I first started to go outside when I was 13, I held my key between my knuckles like a weapon, in case someone followed me. Even though I’ve now figured out the safest route to get home, when I see someone acting creepy, I still hold my key between my knuckles. But the freedom is worth it; it’s nice to be able to go out into Center City and to different corner stores as I please.

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Getting older has given my younger siblings more freedom, too. After a year of going outside by myself, my parents said they believed I was capable of keeping them safe, so they can now go outside even if my parents aren’t with them, as long as I am with them, to monitor. But even then, they can only go up and down the block, like we do in New York.

In recent weeks, the city has tried to crack down on Kensington, clearing encampments and tripling the police force. But I don’t feel like the neighborhood is any safer. I still see drug dealers selling on the corners of my block, and see (and smell) trash in piles on the street. When my family puts our trash out for garbage collection, there are still people digging through it in front of our house.

If there was less trash in Kensington, I think my family and I, and many others, would feel safer letting our kids go outside. I realize trash isn’t the first thing most people think about when they talk about safe streets, but it’s impossible to feel optimistic about my community, that good things happen here, when we’re surrounded by garbage. You can arrest people all you want, offer as many summer programs as you want, but if families see piles of stinky trash on the sidewalks, they’re not going to feel safe.

So I’m glad to hear that our mayor is committed to cleaning up the city. I know improvements take time. But to be honest, I am tired of waiting.

Brooke Fulton is a rising junior at Parkway Center City Middle College and a student in Mighty Writers. She lives in Kensington and was a recent guest on the Mighty Writers podcast.