Hi, it's Curiosity reporter Adriana Cardona McGigad.

It's summertime in Chicago and once again, teen gatherings are in the news.

Hundreds of teens flock to the loop or other parts of the city.

It looks like they're headed to a concert or a festival.

But often there's no real reason. Most of these teams are just looking

for a place to hang out. But sometimes, things get out of control and the gathering ends up

making negative headlines.

We guesstimate probably three to 400 kids running about.

The chaotic scene at 31st Street Beach.

A so-called teen takeover, which has happened before, according to third ward alderwoman Pat Dowell.

We have seen over the last few years a growing trend of young people gathering through social media calls. TV news shows shocking images, and people have gotten hurt.

Many people fear going downtown now because this incident reinforced a narrative that Chicago is dangerous.

And it got one of our curious city listeners wondering,

who's behind the social media blasts to the so-called teen takeovers?

These events aren't new.

I reported on this in 2019.

It says, it's trend, train, train.

We're at North Avenue Beach.

It's a no dusties get there.

Coming up, we'll hear from the kids themselves

and local activists to find out

what's really going on there

...