I wrote this article for the local newspaper last year, but this situation is ongoing...
Teens heading to Crossgates Mall on Fridays and Saturdays after 4 p.m. may be in for a big surprise. Since July 15, the mall has followed in the footsteps of other several malls across the country by implementing the 'Must Be 18' rule. This means that a parent or guardian over 21 years old must accompany anyone under 18 during those hours.
The policy was introduced because of fights and several other incidents on mall grounds, including a 25-year-old man who was stabbed outside of the Cohoes store in May. The policy will hopefully create a safer and improved shopping experience for 'serious shoppers.' Pyramid CEO Michael Bovalino believes this policy will help achieve that goal.
There are some exemptions to the new rule including:
1. Teenage employees when they are working
2. Teens that go to the Regal Cinemas
3. Teens that go to anchor stores
Although over 80% of the stores at Crossgates are in favor of the new policy, Crossgates will most likely lose a lot of money. Last year, according to Michael Wood, vice president of Teenage Research Unlimited of Northbrook, Ill., over 165 million dollars came just from teenagers, and when you eliminate the two busiest days of the week, the mall is obviously going to lose money. Zumiez, a popular skate store, said plain and simple they think the new policy "sucks."
Unlike some parents, most teens seem to have negative feelings toward the policy. Jayme Peterson, 14 of Gloversville disagrees with the policy by saying, "The policy is unfair to have because now teens can’t go shopping in the mall without being looked at as bad people. It’s unfair to say that just because some teenagers misbehave in the mall that all teenagers do, because that is untrue."
However, Jayme’s mother Judie Peterson agrees with the policy. "There have been so many fights and other bad incidents that have occurred so I do agree with the policy being in effect, and I do really think it will help cut down on much violence."
An online forum about the Crossgates policy had many negative views about this issue. One person said, "This is not an isolated incident. There seems to be an ongoing trend of businesses discriminating against young customers. There are stores in California, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, and many in the New York City area who have ageist policies. We need to deal with this problem before it gets any worse. Together we must work to stop this trend of ageism dead in its tracks."
How to end the policy? A couple of teens, who wish to remain anonymous, thought of several ways to try to boycott and end the policy. "A couple friends of mine are thinking of putting on announcements at school, putting up flyers, and getting the students at my local high school organized in a boycott of Crossgates Mall, while suggesting the nearby Colonie Mall as an alternative. My friend also has connections to Channel 10 News, and after we have organized our high school, we plan on contacting them, to see if we could get the word out about our activities, so it would spread to more schools in the area.
We hope that a large organized boycott by teens would be enough to convince those running Crossgates Mall to "think over" this new policy they have. We want to get those high up in Crossgates Mall to repeal this policy."
There are some teenagers that agree with the policy. One teenager that lives outside the Capital Region stated, "I'm under 18 and I wish our local mall would adopt something like the Crossgates mall policy. It is sad that things have come to this. My mall is a scary place on the weekends after dark. There have been problems with shootings and stabbings and even armed robberies. These have all involved someone under the age of 18. Think about it, it is a place that most parents feel safe about dropping off their child to be unsupervised because of security cameras and guards. This is a dream come true for drug dealers and gangs. They are not saying that you cannot come to the mall if you are under 18 (which would be discrimination); they are saying that you must come with supervision. I feel that my mall is losing money because of the money making adults don't feel safe enough to venture to the mall during the weekend evenings. Most of the kids aren't spending money in the stores on a regular basis. They just want somewhere to hang out with their buddies."
Some parents and teens agree, while others disagree with the policy. Is it discriminatory or is it mandatory? Only you can decide. What will become of the "Parental Escort Policy?" Only time can tell.
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