what do do think of this

pwmatt

pwmatt

Cathlete
An article appeared in a nearby paper regarding a local shopping mall. Beginning in July, they are banning kids under the age of eighteen from the mall on Fri and Sat nights after 5. They can go if escorted by an adult. The police(or security) will be checking the kids of ID. Apparently, there has been some trouble in the past of kids acting out and it is intimidated some of the senior citizens. This is a good sized suburban mall(not a strip mall).

My opinion is that this is not the correct way to handle the situation. Also, I can't help but think what next? I was infuriated after hearing about this and I would love to hear some other opinions. Am I way off base by disagreeing with this?


Check out picturetrail for my Europe pictures!
I have to exercise early in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing :)

http://www.rykat.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/arrowhead.png



http://www.picturetrail.com/pwmatt
 
This seems a bit extreme to me!
I have teenage sisters (16 and 18) who are good girls and always have been. If they wanted to go to the mall on a weekend evening to go shopping but got banned I sure wouldn't be rushing to shop at those stores!
I'm sure the stores will change their tune when their sales start slipping! It's the teenage kids not the oldies who keep them in business!
 
Kate, I agree with you. I will take my business to another mall nearby. They have not instituted this policy. I'm luck to have good kids(17 and 14) and they are unhappy about this. They agree with me that the problem children should be disciplined for whatever incidents they create. The answer isn't to ruin the experience for all kids.
Phyllis

Check out picturetrail for my Europe pictures!
I have to exercise early in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing :)

http://www.rykat.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/arrowhead.png



http://www.picturetrail.com/pwmatt
 
Also, don't you find that people of a certain age conveniently forget the way they used to behave when they were younger? Making a lot of noise, showing off, etc. whilst irritating doesn't harm anyone and is par for the course when you're that age.

It's a draconian approach and all too common these days - don't like something? Ban it!

Like Kate says, the shops will soon complain when the takings go down.
 
Ronne - I was thinking along the lines of them being disruptive to the shoppers also. I would imagine, but only guessing, many of the kids are only there to hang out, otherwise why would there not make the ban 5 P.M. during the week too. How many are really shopping? The stores could answer that one.

Also, is there a movie theater or gaming arcade in the mall or just shopping and eateries?

IA that some people are less tolerant of some of the disintegrated respectfulness that has beared it's ugly soul in younger people these days, but I think it is just a sign of the times and what we need to work on as adults. Older people are in tune with the young kids these days cuz we all know we would have been smacked if we did some of the things they do/say today.

IAA that the ban should only be put in place if they have tried to eliminate the problems by possibly just having security kick out the trouble makers and leave those that are behaving alone. Have they tried that and this is the next step?

What a pain to ID everyone young walking through the doors . . . and it will be interesting to see if some parents go in with their kids and then leave later?
 
Jacque, there is no theater or arcade in this mall. I think that some of the kids are just hanging out, but some are spending money too.

I also don't know if they have tried upping the security in the mall. The articly didn't refer to that.

There was an incident last July when a bunch of kids had a food fight.OK, deal with those kids but dont' penalize ALL kids.

Phyllis

Check out picturetrail for my Europe pictures!
I have to exercise early in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing :)

http://www.rykat.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/arrowhead.png



http://www.picturetrail.com/pwmatt
 
I don't understand why these kids cannot hang out in someone's home?
Nothing wrong with supplying a few snacks, music, and free movies!

I have one teen, one adult child. My home was a hangout. I preferred it that way. I'm within an earshot of what's going on.
It doesn't mean that I did not trust my children. It was my job to supervise my children, not mall security.

Why a mall? How many of these kids are shop lifting? I'll bet there are more than you realize. We pay for shop lifting!
 
I go the mall about once a year, maybe, but I have to say that the last time DH and I went we were completely shocked by how the mall had been overrun by teenagers. And honestly it didn't seem like they were doing much shopping. The aisles outside the stores were clogged with kids standing around (it was tough to move around them and get in and out of stores) they were yelling to each other, roughhousing, some were chasing each other, lots of yelling back and forth from one group to the next, that sort of high-energy goofing around. And a large number of them seemed to have babies on their hips as well. We got out of there pretty quickly and didn't end up looking for what we'd originally wanted to shop for. Maybe that's the kind of situation the malls are trying to alleviate.

Sparrow
 
It seems like a better answer for the mall is to have Teen Nights with notices posted well in advance so Seniors could steer clear on those nights. Our local mall puts on talent shows for the local kids so they can participate or cheer on those on stage. It works very well!

Jonahnah
Chocolate IS the answer, regardless of the question.
 
They had to resort to this here and I LOVE it! Mall business was dropping because of all the hooligans loitering and terrorizing other mall patrons. They swarm around in large groups, steal things, clog the halls so other people can't walk by, etc. Crime rates were soaring -- shoplifting, assault, robbery, rapes -- you name it. I'm sure you guys have wonderfully well behaved children, but there are so many rotten apples out there today -- kids with no direction in life and no conscience -- no sense of right or wrong. I'm sorry, but these brats give me the creeps! I'm glad the malls are starting to require parental supervision. Why should I have to watch out for and worry about these kids?

Just another opinion ;-)
 
Having worked in mall management, I can tell you that your well-behaved kids who are there to shop on a Saturday night are not the norm. Parents seem to think that the mall is a good, safe place for their kids to hang out on weekends, so you end up with roaming gangs of teenagers who AREN'T shopping and are, in fact, disrupting people who do want to shop and driving away mall traffic. And shoplifting rates do go up during those times. I understand that we were all young and rowdy once (heck, some of are still rowdy), but the mall is not the forum for that.
 
The teens hanging out in my local mall on weekends are down right frightening.

It's weird, my hairdresser and I were just talking about this yesterday. She is 23 years old, so it's just not me who is not understanding of teens(although I have 2 myself). She drives one hour to a mall that doesn't have this problem because the shopping experience at the local mall on weekends is a total nightmare.
I do believe the malls are losing business by allowing it.

I'm glad to see one mall cracking down on this problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top