Mall Won't Allow Teens Without Parents

Mall Won't Allow Teens Without Parents

4/20/05

NASHUA, N.H. - 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.


"That's when we approach them and give them a copy of the code of conduct and ask the parent to come in with them," Szymanski said.


She said the code — which outlines 13 rules governing acceptable conduct and clothing, among other things — will be enforced by security.


Szymanski said the mall rules have always been in place and posted, but the fliers were printed two weeks ago in response to the large groups of teenagers who have been hanging out — not shopping — at the mall on Friday and Saturday nights.


If the parent can't accompany the child during those times, they are asked to take the youngster home, she said.


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.


"We're not out to punish anyone," she said. "We're just trying to better manage the shopping experience."


Shoppers interviewed by The Telegraph didn't seem too thrilled by the code of conduct, though.


"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.


Ashley agreed.


"I can come here and I can be fine without my mom," she said.


Stacey Donovan of Tyngsborough, Mass., said she always has considered the mall a safe haven for people.


"God knows what they'll be doing if they're not at the mall," she said. "To say it's not allowed is not the right answer. Let them have their place."


Not every New Hampshire mall has problems with kids' behavior. Scott Payrits, senior marketing manager at the Steeplegate Mall in Concord, said kids come to his mall to shop, not to cause trouble.


"We do not have any sort of problem with disruptive incidents, especially with kids," he said. "We have very good public safety. We don't have the need for a children-specific code of conduct."





One of the rules at Pheasant Lane prohibits dress "commonly recognized as gang-related."

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?"
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Bill's Comment: Too bad all malls don't follow this? Besides, a little family time nevewr hurts anybody.