Do you agree with this opinion?

• Yes (93%, 14 Votes)
• No (7%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 15

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I love my parents, but I can’t say I am interested in them joining my friends and me to go shopping at Lindale Mall. Unfortunately, at many malls across the country, teens under the age of 18 are being required to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. It’s called a “parental escort policy” and the Mall of America in Minnesota was the first to enforce this policy in 1996. Today, this idea is becoming increasingly present in other malls around the states. I have seen both sides of this issue personally, once in middle school when my friends and I saw a fight take place at Lindale and the other just last summer when my cousins and I were told we either needed to leave the Mall of America or have a parent walk around with us. My question is that if the policy has existed since 1996 and we are seeing issues even more widespread today, are the restrictions actually doing anything to solve the problem? Are they inciting more reason for some teens to act out?

You might call me biased, as I am a teenager, but I really don’t think this is the way to solve the problem. I am not defending the fights and brawls that have caused the rules to be put into place, but I do think a different approach should be taken to fix the issue. First of all, add some common sense; if more and more restrictions are being put into place to put these teens on a sort of leash, then that may only give them more of a reason to be upset about something and cause even more motives for “rebellious” behavior. If teenagers really want to go to the mall, they will simply sneak in. Another point against this issue is that if these teens who did cause trouble at malls can no longer go to the mall, who’s to say that they won’t cause trouble in another place?

Supporters of the restrictions say that the rules have caused more sales in mall stores and that there are less groups of teens that have caused trouble in malls, but I believe this to be a short-term effect. A large majority of stores in malls are geared toward teens and young adults.

I don’t have a clear solution to this issue, but I do think the root of it lies in our society. I don’t want to generalize all parents, as I believe most parents do raise their kids to be respectful. Sadly, I also think there are parents who do not instill values of respect into their children and that the result is the behavior that has been causing the restrictions. This ruins it for all teens, most of whom are respectful. If we bring more respect for others into our culture, I believe that not only this problem will lessen, but also many other problems. The solution lies in how we can create an environment of more respect for others and in recognizing how our actions affect those around us.