Borough officials are considering an ordinance that would make it illegal for groups of people to gather anywhere from public sidewalks to parks, with the threat of jail time for loiterers -- and, in the case of juvenile repeat offenders, their parents.

Local leaders say the loitering ordinance is needed to address what they say is a growing incidence of vandalism and other misbehavior.

But the proposal has raised the ire of civil libertarians, not to mention local teenagers who say this community of 6,700 outside Philadelphia is trying to make "hanging out" a crime.

"What are we supposed to do, just sit in our houses?" asked Becca Murphy, 13, who was hanging out with a half-dozen friends after school Tuesday in Souderton Community Park on Main Street. "There's no problems here, there's no gangs or anything at all. It's totally ridiculous."