You probably think this will be the angsty ravings of a pissed-off teenager. In a way, I suppose you're right.
My local mall, which used to be a favorite weekend hangout of teens throughout the area, is now restricted to them on Friday and Saturday nights after 6 P.M., unless they are with a parent or guardian. This past summer, the owners of the mall, (or whoever it is that runs things) decided that the high number of teens in the mall was detrimental to business. It is obvious that the incident of a fourteen-year-old girl getting stabbed in the parking lot was a harbinger of new restrictions. The owners gave reasons for the new rule such as: teens are participating in inappropriate public displays of affection, they were scaring off older customers, they were responsible for numerous thefts and other crimes, and they were being destructive to property.
What a load of bull. According to the mall, once you're eighteen, you never indulge in a little bit of public make-outage? Eighteen-year-olds never steal things? They never destroy property or scare off the old farts? One out of ten teens ruined it for the rest of us! I'm sorry that maybe old people weren't spending their social security checks at the lamp store or that they weren't buying at the Yankee Candle Company Store. But they are not the target market of malls- everyone knows that! A large percent of the stores are geared towards the younger, tweenager through young adult age bracket. Pac Sun, Hot Topic, Abercrombie & Fitch, Spencer's, Claire's- old people aren't likely to spend time there.
What's next? Are they going to restrict us from the movie theaters after six? Or maybe Wal-Mart or Starbuck's? They don't seem to realize how much revenue they are losing by keeping us out.
Of course, we could all just dress really nicely and maybe the security guards will think we're eighteen anyway. I've done it before. What a foolproof system.
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Being a teenager myself I find that pointless. If that ever happened around here there would be an uproar like you've never seen. It would be national news. Your right though, that has got to be the most senseless thing that I have ever heard. How do they expect to make any profits if they keep the teens out?
Friday and Saturday curfew for our mall is 300 - when we're all getting out of school. We're also not allowed to be in the mall during school hours if we're under 18. It's sad, but necessary, in my point of view. "My" mall is in what's considered one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.
A shopping mall is not a public park. (And even cities often make rules restricting teenagers and children during certain hours in parks. They are called curfews.)
A shopping mall is private property and the owners have every right to make and enforce whatever policies they want. Private is the operative word.
They may be making a stupid decision with respect to business and profits. I am sure that if they are, that their tenants will let them know and the policy will change or the tenants that depend on business from teenagers will find new more permissive premises to rent where they can do business with teenagers.
If kids have been stabbed on this property, then the owners probably got sued and their new policies probably have a lot to do with their insurance company having to shell out a huge settlement and are now passing on the cost by charging them a much higher insurance premium. Profits don't matter much if you have to pour them all into insurance premiums or salaries for security guards. It is more profitable to do less business and keep out the problem which they percieve (probably correctly based on what you wrote) to be teenagers.
Your anger should be directed at the juevenile delinquents who are your peers and have wrecked this situation for everybody including the mall owners.
Someday you will probably be a property owner. When you are, you will realize that one of the benefits of owning property is that you get to control it and one of your fears is that somebody else who did not invest and risk their wealth in your property or invest their time and hard work in making it successful will start telling you how you should manage that which belongs to you.