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Wow, kids have a curfew at the mall

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nitsuj3580

Platinum Member
I guess here in my hometown of Syracuse, the big mall here (Carousel for any locals on here) has a curfew for kids 18 and younger this holiday shopping season. Basically, if a kid is 18 or younger, he/she can not be in the mall by themselves after 4 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. If they are in the mall at that time, they better be accompanied by an adult that is 21 or older.

I went last night to check it out and I must say, I had an enjoyable shopping experience picking up my last few Xmas gifts. No kids blocking the walkways as they walk together 4-5 at a side like usual. Even as I entered, there was a guy there kicking out a group of kids. The curfew really seems to work. Nothing against teenagers but most of them just take up space and have no intentions of buying anything and use the mall just as a place to hang out. This curfew thing really seems to clear up the mall of non-buyers. I like it.

They doing this anywhere else?
 
I agree, it makes it more pleasant at the malls when it's not a "hang-out" for kids. A couple of malls down the road a bit in Buffalo do the same thing year round (at least the Walden Galeria, I believe)
 
i was actually at Carousel last Sat. nitsuj3580 and at 4:00 a couple of kids in front of me got "confronted" for being without a parent. i asked the enforcer guy (in red) what was up. he told me no kids under 18 without a parent or guardian after 4. sounds a bit strict to me.

i guess they figure they are just loitering and not spending, but i think it is harsh.
 
Wow 4pm is quite early. I can't believe 18 year olds aren't allowed to make their own decisions. I woulda set the limit at 16.
 
I think it is a great idea. I hate going to the mall as it is and prefer to spend as little as time as possible there. I don't think the ACLU can say a word. Last I looked, a mall is private property and not public (as in owned by the city, state or feds) and can make rules to prohibit tresspassing. A mall owner is in the business to make money from his/her tenant stores and if no one is spending money in the stores, why even allow them there to hang out? Sure they may buy something from the food court (a drink or 2 maybe,) but do they actually spend any at Macy's, Sears or Victoria Secrets?
 
That's pretty cool. It'd be sorta rough here though in my college town since a freshman class of 10,000 at the University of Iowa is roughly 1/8th of the towns population. Many of them are only 18 and it's very tough to tell the difference between a 17yo and a 21yo anymore. Many "of age" people would be hastled.

Outside of that though, in a largely residential area, I think it makes for a lower stress shopping experience for the rest of us 🙂
 
I think it's a great idea to do that. But personally feel 4pm is a little too early.

I hate going to the mall anymore its always full of teens just hanging out or causing trouble. A few weeks ago they had a riot in the mall nearby because of some teens.
 
whoa...i'm 17 and I don't find that entirely fair. I can understand your objection to the loud/obnoxious children...but not all of us are like that, you know? Just like some 21 year olds are asshats too.
 
Originally posted by: eLiu
whoa...i'm 17 and I don't find that entirely fair. I can understand your objection to the loud/obnoxious children...but not all of us are like that, you know? Just like some 21 year olds are asshats too.
Click to expand...

thats true. i agree many teenagers are not obnoxious at all. but still, you have to accept the fat that a LOT are. adults can be obnoxious too, but id be willing to bet theres a lot less of them then there are teenagers. its just a general statement, not necessarily everybody. i could so some generalizations that are mostly true but not 100% for some cultures too, but id get flamed. since im a teenager, i understand what they did, although i dont entirely agree with it, from their perspective, its understandable.
 
Originally posted by: LongCoolMother
Originally posted by: eLiu
whoa...i'm 17 and I don't find that entirely fair. I can understand your objection to the loud/obnoxious children...but not all of us are like that, you know? Just like some 21 year olds are asshats too.
Click to expand...

thats true. i agree many teenagers are not obnoxious at all. but still, you have to accept the fat that a LOT are. adults can be obnoxious too, but id be willing to bet theres a lot less of them then there are teenagers. its just a general statement, not necessarily everybody. i could so some generalizations that are mostly true but not 100% for some cultures too, but id get flamed. since im a teenager, i understand what they did, although i dont entirely agree with it, from their perspective, its understandable.
Click to expand...

I agree with you, it's too bad we have to punish larger groups of people because of the actions of a few members of that group. But, until we legalize the death penalty for just being annoying, (and fortunately for me as I make this post, it isn't already), that's the price we have to pay. There are a lot of things that would be great to have if it wasn't for small groups of idiots. ie Fireworks.. I'd love to have my own on the 4th of July, but some idiots gave their kids sparklers, their kids fingers got burned, and all fireworks (except snakes and those snap pop things) are illegal in NY
 
If teenagers don't hang out at the malls, where are they expected to hang out ? We want them to stay out of trouble (off the streets), but we are taking away the one place that is also considered 'safe' and 'supervised' (to an extent).

And this phenomena is nothing new... teens have been hanging out at the mall since I've ever known there was such a thing as a mall. Maybe some of us are judging based on the fact that WE no longer do it (or feel the need to).

It's an issue that should be considered acceptable but annoying... no big deal.
 
yeah, the fact that I wouldn't be allowed at the mall when i'm 17 years old after 4 PM is pretty hard to come to grips with. I thought you meant kids as in little toddlers running around, and they shouldn't be without an adult in the first place 🙂

Malls are a natural place for kids to hang out, there's always stuff to do there, there's security and adults around... isn't that a parents dream? Having their kid hanging out in a semi-supervised environment? If you really want, we can all go back to the parks and start drinking/smoking pot or something.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
If teenagers don't hang out at the malls, where are they expected to hang out ? We want them to stay out of trouble (off the streets), but we are taking away the one place that is also considered 'safe' and 'supervised' (to an extent).
Click to expand...

Now I know not all towns/cities have teen rec centers, but I do not go to the mall to be someones babysitter, I go to the mall to buy something I need, not to hang out. I have never felt the need to hang out at the mall at anytime in my life. Parents who dump their kids at the mall for them to hang out and be 'supervised' as you put it, are really abdicating their parental responsibilities and forcing them on someone else. IMO that isn't fair to the people who are at the mall to shop. Why should someone be responsible for anyone elses kids without being asked and/or fairly compensated (this happens at apartment complex swimming pools during the summer too)? It is not my responsibility to watch kids unless I say I will (and very unlikely to happen unless I watch my nephew for my sis and her hubby). I don't hate kids, I just don't like being forced to watch them.

 
Originally posted by: WhiteKnight77
Originally posted by: rh71
If teenagers don't hang out at the malls, where are they expected to hang out ? We want them to stay out of trouble (off the streets), but we are taking away the one place that is also considered 'safe' and 'supervised' (to an extent).
Click to expand...

Now I know not all towns/cities have teen rec centers, but I do not go to the mall to be someones babysitter, I go to the mall to buy something I need, not to hang out. I have never felt the need to hang out at the mall at anytime in my life. Parents who dump their kids at the mall for them to hang out and be 'supervised' as you put it, are really abdicating their parental responsibilities and forcing them on someone else. IMO that isn't fair to the people who are at the mall to shop. Why should someone be responsible for anyone elses kids without being asked and/or fairly compensated (this happens at apartment complex swimming pools during the summer too)? It is not my responsibility to watch kids unless I say I will (and very unlikely to happen unless I watch my nephew for my sis and her hubby). I don't hate kids, I just don't like being forced to watch them.
Click to expand...
I'm having trouble understanding what role you are assuming when someone drops their kids off at the mall. Are you the security guard or the patron of the mall ? The latter do not do anything about the kids... nor are they expected to. Security guards are already paid to do their job, and any guard's responsibility is always expected to be different depending on the demographics.

This is not about parents delegating responsibility. Is that what they have in mind when they wish their kids a good time with their friends ? Do you really think the kids want the parents around at 17 or 18 ? Or even 16 in many cases. Parents have to allow a certain amount of freedom and what better than to have them gather at places that are "watched" ? Namely a populated area with security cameras. No more is necessary to keep them in check. I don't think these teen centers are appropriate for many of these kids. Sure it's a good place to be... but did you ask them ? Would they want to willingly hang out there ? Only if they're doing something fun like team sports... it's not the end-all solution.

Are they really causing all this trouble at malls or are they simply a nuisance because of the numbers ? I think there's a good trade-off there for adults and kids... and I'll appreciate that even more when I have a teen of my own. Mall is better than anything else if you ask me - at least they'd want to be there too...
 
Originally posted by: WhiteKnight77
Originally posted by: rh71
If teenagers don't hang out at the malls, where are they expected to hang out ? We want them to stay out of trouble (off the streets), but we are taking away the one place that is also considered 'safe' and 'supervised' (to an extent).
Click to expand...

Now I know not all towns/cities have teen rec centers, but I do not go to the mall to be someones babysitter, I go to the mall to buy something I need, not to hang out. I have never felt the need to hang out at the mall at anytime in my life. Parents who dump their kids at the mall for them to hang out and be 'supervised' as you put it, are really abdicating their parental responsibilities and forcing them on someone else. IMO that isn't fair to the people who are at the mall to shop. Why should someone be responsible for anyone elses kids without being asked and/or fairly compensated (this happens at apartment complex swimming pools during the summer too)? It is not my responsibility to watch kids unless I say I will (and very unlikely to happen unless I watch my nephew for my sis and her hubby). I don't hate kids, I just don't like being forced to watch them.
Click to expand...
you don't have to "watch" me. When I was younger, just the presence of an adult usually was enough to make me behave better then I normally would.
 
I was just at Carousel yesterday. I wonder how highschoolers will see late night movies now. I always remembered going late to watch movies. Times have changed.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
I'm having trouble understanding what role you are assuming when someone drops their kids off at the mall. Are you the security guard or the patron of the mall ? The latter do not do anything about the kids... nor are they expected to. Security guards are already paid to do their job, and any guard's responsibility is always expected to be different depending on the demographics.

This is not about parents delegating responsibility. Is that what they have in mind when they wish their kids a good time with their friends ? Do you really think the kids want the parents around at 17 or 18 ? Or even 16 in many cases. Parents have to allow a certain amount of freedom and what better than to have them gather at places that are "watched" ? Namely a populated area with security cameras. No more is necessary to keep them in check. I don't think these teen centers are appropriate for many of these kids. Sure it's a good place to be... but did you ask them ? Would they want to willingly hang out there ? Only if they're doing something fun like team sports... it's not the end-all solution.

Are they really causing all this trouble at malls or are they simply a nuisance because of the numbers ? I think there's a good trade-off there for adults and kids... and I'll appreciate that even more when I have a teen of my own. Mall is better than anything else if you ask me - at least they'd want to be there too...
Click to expand...

You inferred that all adults would be watching over the kids even if you didn't directly say so. If I owned a mall, my paid security guards would be for customer and store safety, not having to keep an eye on hordes of teens. Doing so takes away from their job. There are many places for kids to hang out depending on where you live. It all depends on what people like. From what I have seen at the malls last couple of times I have been are kids either hanging out in the food court and taking up space while jabbering on their cell phones even though they have a friend sitting right there with them to walking the mall doing the same thing and blocking the walkways. As I said before, malls are private property and mall management has the right to decide who and who does not belong there.
 
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