quote:Originally posted by charlene:
the malls have become babysitters. hordes of pre-teens and early teens hang out in large groups until mum or dad comes and picks them up 2-5 hours later. these kids make serious shoppers wary and clog up aisles and food courts when they essentially are buying very little.
Carousel Center in Syracuse recently instituted what they call MB-18 (for "must be 18") restricting unaccompanied minors on Friday and Saturday evenings from 4pm until closing. If you're under 18 you have to be with an adult over 21 on those nights - or you're out the door, and each adult is limited to no more than 4 teens, I think. They have 'hosts' at each entrance to turn away groups of unaccompanied teens.
There was a lot of grousing on the part of the teens as you can imagine. Families and older shoppers (not to mention merchants) were thrilled not to have to dodge marauding gangs of kids moving blob-like through the mall harassing, fighting, shoving and otherwise terrorizing them. They also were *not* spending money, just hanging - but driving off the spenders. The kids muttered darkly that they'd take their business elsewhere, but if the crowds I saw Friday night are any indicator, the rest of us have made up for it in spades. Very family friendly now, less of a drop-off place for irresponsible parents.
[This message has been edited by Auburn Annie (edited August 22, 2004).]
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