Hold parents, not social media, accountable for teen takeovers

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to fight “teen takeovers” in his city but he is going the wrong, indeed ridiculous, way about it. He thinks he should fix the problem by taxing social media companies and using the revenue to fund more programs for teenagers. Yeah, that’ll work!

His aldermen sensibly wanted to authorize stricter curfews and pass laws that would hold parents accountable when their children break the law. Taxing social media companies won’t solve anything. Holding parents accountable for their teenagers’ lawbreaking will.

Five police officers were injured and three teenagers were shot during two teen takeover events in Chicago during Memorial Day weekend. The first began at around 3 a.m. Sunday on the West Side, near a public housing complex, where hundreds of teenagers gathered and fought in the streets. Dozens of police officers were sent in to disperse the crowd. As they tried to restore order, a teenager