Now here's an interesting concept (that is most likely a losing battle, too, but oh well):
NASHUA, N.H. (AP) - Every kid knows hanging out with Mom or Dad can be kind of a drag. Kids who want to spend time at the Pheasant Lane Mall on Friday or Saturday nights might not have a choice. In response to recent "disorderly and disruptive" incidents, mall security two weeks ago started distributing fliers outlining the mall's "general code of conduct," according to mall Manager Ginny Szymanski.From 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, mall security guards now stand outside two entrances to make sure anyone under 16 has a parent or someone over 21 with them....
If kids are found to be disrupting the mall's business, Szymanski said they will be escorted to the command center to call a parent to pick them up.
Am I sympathetic to the kids here? Not really, but it's mainly because I certainly didn't hang out in malls alone while I was under driving age. My parents didn't consider the malls to be a safe or appropriate place for me to hang out without supervision, but many parents do.
Hopefully, those parents will make smarter statements to the press than this mom:
"I feel as though if I want to drop my kids off, I should. They're responsible," said Leann Newcomb of Lowell, Mass., who was shopping Monday with her 15-year-old daughter, Ashley...Szymanski said the mall doesn't have a gang problem, but that people with certain attire - such as long chains that fall below the knee or studded dog or wrist collars, all of which can be used as weapons, she said - will be asked to remove them. If they don't comply, they will be asked to leave the mall, she said.
Leann Newcomb questioned the rule. "They sell that stuff," said Newcomb. "How are they going to tell the kids after they buy that stuff not to wear it? Isn't that a violation of your constitutional rights?"
Ha ha ha ha! Oh, wait, was she serious? Does she really believe that (a) because she considers her kids to be responsible, she should be allowed to let them roam without supervision anywhere they like, and (b) they have a constitutional right to wear outrageous clothing anywhere they like?
Sheesh.
Posted by kswygert at April 20, 2005 10:19 AM