No electronics needed at Teen Unplugged Night

Do card and board games bring back any memories? Perhaps you picture family game night? In today’s age, electronic devices dominate the entertainment landscape. However, card and board games are not forgotten. To give teens a different recreational experience, Harriotte B. Smith Library on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune presented the Teen Unplugged Night, Nov. 17.

“It is great to spend time with the teens and watch them enjoy games without anything electronic,” said Lauren Easton, MCB Camp Johnson library technician. “You watch them figure out how to play games that they may not be familiar with and have laughs along the way.”

Many adolescents are accustomed to using video game consoles, smartphones and other internet or electronic-connected devices which offer many forms of media and entertainment. The library offers some of these amenities as well during other game nights, but library staff like doing the Unplugged Night to provide a significant change of pace. Various types of card and board games were on hand along with snacks for teens to partake in.

“Unplugged Night is about disconnecting teens from technology and teaching them to have an enjoyable time without it,” said Sean Pittman, HBS Library programs and library technician supervisor. “We have Monopoly™, Ticket to Ride™ and other classic games. The teens get to talk and spend time with each other in a relaxed atmosphere and be themselves.”

For Easton, who came to help fill in, the opportunity to be able to work with the library and the youth is a privilege.

“As a teenager, I was heavily involved with the programs,” said Easton. “To be able to now work within the program and contribute to an institution that gave me so much means a great deal.”

For more information on library programs, visit www.mccslejeune-newriver.com/libraries.