Mall Curfews for Teens

Ok, you're 16 on a Friday night in Parkersburg. You can't go to a bar or club and other places to hang out are closed. Where do you go? I bet most kids in the area go hang out at the local mall. Actually, I'm sure one or all of us has been at the mall late on a weekend and noticed the hordes of teens just walking around in their little groups. What if the mall were to impose a curfew? Think that is crazy eh? Think again! Many malls now are imposing a curfew upon teenagers. The Mall of America has had a policy of this sort since 1996. Before the policy implementations, there were over 300 incidents recorded due to the deliquency of teens. After policy implementation, the incidents recorded dropped to 2 within the next year. Over 46,000 malls have this policy, where after a certain time (usually around 8-10, but as early as 6pm at the Mall of America) teens must be chaperoned by an adult, unless going directly to a movie theater.

I'm anxious to hear what you guys think since we were teens not that long ago. I didn't have a mall close enough to go to aside from monthly, so I can't say if it would have changed my attitude. I had a curfew imposed by my parents anyway, so it probably would not have affected me.

What about sales in the mall? Would they go down because of the lack of buyers in the market? I've tossed this up in my head, and honestly, when I see kinds walking around a mall at that time at night, they're never in the shops buying, they're just roaming and chatting among eachother.