Philly teens have few places to hang out. One shop owner welcomes them — but is facing pushback.

I recently did something I’d never done before. I sat outside at a picnic table in the 500 block of West Girard Avenue on a sunny afternoon and enjoyed a frozen (virgin) piña colada.

I felt strangely carefree.

As I sat there marveling at how good my drink was, I watched students from nearby Bodine High School walking down the street. Several went inside Philadelphia Tropical Treats, where I’d gotten my drink.

Tropical Treats is literally an oasis. The walls are colorfully painted, like something you might see in Jamaica. Customers wait on stationary swings inside as their drink orders — with names such as mango madness and green flamingo — are topped with fresh fruit chunks, hard pretzels, and colorful umbrellas. Even without the $2 treats on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I can totally see why so many young people are drawn there.

Philadelphia Tropical Treats stands out because of the fact that kids are welcome there. That’s becoming a rare thing in the city right now.

» READ MORE: Where is a Philadelphia teenager supposed to hang out?

Consider, for instance, the new curfew adopted by the Fashion District, which says no one under 18 can be there after 2 p.m. without an adult. A carnival in South Philly recently said no one under 18 could be there at any time without an adult.

In stark contrast, Philadelphia Tropical Treats owner Aleem Smallwood told me he welcomes youngsters and allows them to hang around. He recently posted a video of about a dozen young people sitting at his two picnic tables, eating rainbow-colored popsicles and hanging outside the brick storefront.

Just think about how rare that is. Young people have to have somewhere to go with their friends, but between the curfews and signs discouraging backpacks or people in groups, they have few options. People talk about staffing more rec centers and libraries, but how many teenagers want to go there?

In Philadelphia Tropical Treats, neighborhood youngsters have found a place where they like to hang out, and that encourages them to do so, kind of the way ice cream parlors used to do during my parents’ era.

However, that’s become a point of contention for some school administrators at a nearby school.

Smallwood told me that administrators from Young Scholars Charter School, a middle school located just a few blocks away, have approached his business and attempted to shoo students away. He claims one even came inside and ordered students who were in line waiting to buy water ice and other treats out of the store. And this was after school hours.

“He just like bogarted into my store while I’m serving customers ... telling kids to go out,” Smallwood recalled.

Smallwood told me he feels that his business is being singled out, and has visited the school multiple times to complain.

Shakira Smith, a coprincipal at Young Scholars, told me administrators and teachers are focused on making sure that their 300 students, who come from neighborhoods around the city, make it home safely.

“This is really a dismissal concern for us,” she told me. “The dismissal, to prevent it from lasting 45 minutes to an hour, it does really require that kids are going straight to their cars, straight to their bus stops, and heading straight home, which is the narration that they receive from us every day.”

The fact that Young Scholars no longer has school buses has created new challenges for ensuring that students make it home safely, Smith said, adding, “We don’t want kids to hang out for the sake of hanging out because, unfortunately, our city just isn’t the safest city.”

After visiting the school, Smallwood and I walked back to Tropical Treats, where several regular customers told me they were concerned about how Tropical Treats is being treated.

“I think this man is coming into this neighborhood and trying to give a resource for kids to do after school, and that school should be in partnership with him ... instead of trying to hurt his business,” Christian Smith, an entrepreneur who has hired Tropical Treats to cater events for him, told me.

I’m not encouraging young people to hang out in any commercial establishment. After school is dismissed, they need to do homework and prepare for the next school day. It may not be as fun, but they’re usually safer at home.

But when the weather is nice, I can’t blame them for not wanting to rush inside. When I was the same age as Young Scholars students, we used to jump rope after classes let out for 30 minutes or so before heading home. Many students these days don’t have that option.

According to its website, Young Scholars offers after-school activities such as basketball, soccer, cooking, and African drumming — which is great for those involved. But not all children are.

So where do they go? Recreation centers aren’t always safe. The Parks and Recreation Department estimates that almost 300 incidents of gun violence have occurred around recreation centers and playgrounds since 2019. Last month, a 15-year-old was shot in the back around 4:15 p.m. at the Marie Dendy Recreation Center, just several blocks from Tropical Treats.

Libraries are also supposed to be safe havens, but they aren’t open long enough. The Ramonita G. de Rodriguez Library, located just one block away from the store, closes at 5 p.m. on Fridays and doesn’t even open on the weekends, which is outrageous.

Plus, I don’t know many teenagers who want to hang out at the library, especially on sunny spring afternoons.

For youngsters with free time on their hands, Smallwood is offering somewhere for them to go. It’s a shame that, as Principal Smith noted, that may not always be the safest option.