By Jaedda Armstrong
NORFOLK
At 5:05 Wednesday evening, 17-year-old Tiffani Walker stood outside MacArthur Center waiting for her mother to pick her up.
She'd rather have still been inside shopping, but she would have been asked to leave and been escorted out by the downtown mall's security guards. The guards now stood at every entrance scanning each passing face for a hint of adolescence.
Thursday marked the one-month mark of the mall's no-teens-after-5 policy. The rule requires shoppers younger than 18 to have a "supervising adult" at least 21 years of age with them if they come to the mall after 5 p.m.
"It's so not fair, but what can you do?" said Walker, clutching an Aeropostale shopping bag. "Not all teens are looking for trouble. I actually shop here for clothes and shoes."
Jim Wofford, the mall's general manager, said staff members initiated the policy after they noticed an increase in "unsupervised" youths congregating at MacArthur Center in the evenings. The staff wanted, he said, to prevent any issues that could arise from large gatherings.
When mall officials announced the plan in early October, local teens rallied in opposition, called for boycotts, and created group pages on the social-networking site Facebook to criticize the policy.
Quint Guvernator, a 14-year-old Norfolk Academy student, created the Facebook group "MacArthur is not being fair!," now boasting more than 2,000 members.
A day before the policy went into effect, Guvernator and about 40 teens from the Facebook group gathered in front of the mall holding signs and protesting the rule. One sign read, "Mall Should Be For All."
Mall officials applauded the teens' ambition but made no change to the policy.
Since then, Guvernator hasn't set foot in MacArthur Center, and he encourages his friends and family members to spend their money at other malls.
"They're going to lose a lot of sales from kids and adults," he said.
Although the teen protests have quieted down, they won't stay that way, Guvernator said Thursday. He plans to organize another event - maybe a second protest - after the holidays.
"Of course, there are still folks that don't agree with the policy, but whether they agree or not, I'm sure everyone supports a safer environment for our children and our customers," Wofford said.
Mall officials aren't tracking the number of teens who have violated the rule, Wofford said. He also said he doesn't know whether any merchants have seen a difference in sales since the policy went into effect.
Managers at several stores in the mall, including Aeropostale and GameStop, declined to comment.
By 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the mall's halls were quiet and most stores were empty. Security guards walked the mall, scanning faces.
Standing by the entrance of clothing store Forever 21, employee Joseph Nguyen folded clothes and placed them on a shelf.
Before the ban, teens would cram into the store to check out the latest fashions, said the 19-year-old cashier.
"Now," he said, "it's just dead in here."
Jaedda Armstrong, (757)222-5846, jaedda.armstrong@pilotonline.com
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And our rights are....
You can see by just reading the comments from this story, the people commenting are mostly adults who believe teens are causing trouble. I agree with those that can see that this is wrong. We as kids have apparently "no rights" and since for the most part all people care about are themselves not many would stand up for us or see that it is taking "our rights" away. Are we not citizens of the United States? And I'm pretty sure we are, we have the right to PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY. Which is basically what us teens come to do at malls because where else are we supposed to go to be with a large group of our friends safely. I have also never in my life seen another teen being rude or trouble-causing at a mall, so I don't see the problem. It also makes it harder for the teens who have jobs there or were hoping to apply. I doubt this policy will stay for long, but I don't think I will ever go back to MacArthur in my life. who's next to be banned from MacArthur?
MacArthur Parked
I am under the impression that the two sides, the mall and the teens, reached an agreement after sitting down to discuss the ban.
Read ALL about it -
http://tidewaterlog.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-rule-to-make-hangin-tough-for-teens.html
Numero Uno, it's undeniable
Numero Uno, it's undeniable this policy hurt's mall store business... is business something norfolk has such a surplus of that it can squander on misguided moral quests?
Second, obviously these moral advocate parents are oblivious to where alcohol, sex, drugs, fights happen... never in the mall... in their neighborhoods, at teen's homes, regardless of whether a parent is home or not
Also, the proposed solution of regulating children from dawn to dusk as a solution is pretty naive too... I saw it backfire a million and one times growing up
hmmm
I hope all the malls do this so I can get my holiday shopping a little more smoothly.
The Mall
In the end and especially with the holidays fast approaching, MONEY will decide who comes and goes and the time it happens.
Teens in the mall
I do not have a problem with tightening security in the mall. I do have a problem when you say all teenagers are bad and none are allowed after 5 pm without adult supervision. There are some hard working kids out there that deserve some credit too. Yes there are some bad apples but what about the kid who works after school and can only get to the mall after 5 pm? What about those kids who work in the mall stores or is that not allowed too? How do they go Christmas shopping for mommy or daddy's present? I am all for keeping the mall a safe place for family; I have three kids of my own. But I do not want anyone to get banned from the mall after a certain hour because they fit a profile. I wonder how much money the stores and restaurants have lost because of this rule too? There has to be a better way.
What shopping?
Do your kids have money like that? I didn't when I was 15, and I'd bet you most kids don't today. They just go to the mall to hang out and window shop. They seek to be free from constraints and away from their parents! Hence the the "trouble." Sure, they might buy a cookie or a Starbucks, but they usually want a free water and I'm certain they're not dropping 50 bucks on clothes each time they go to the mall.
Finally, I don't understnad for the life of me why these kids aren't with their parents anyway. I remember going to the mall with my friends during the Summer from time to time to see a movie and being dropped off and picked up by Mom or Dad, but I would never be there by myself or without my parents on weeknights or during the school year. Has so much changed in 20 years?
The Pilot loves to stir the pot
OK, the pilot covered this story a month ago so why continue stirring the pot. Where's the real news? A real reporter would be out looking for news that interest Hampton Roads not one sitting in his office re-reporting old newsthat was reported a month ago. When the mall continues loosing revenues, they'll change the policy.
The Pilot does well
I'm glad they're actually following up on a story. The Pilot should do more of that, not less.
the numbers
The numbers speak for themselves. Support for this policy is close to 5-to-1. The people have spoken.
failure to be parents
Comments are being made about the mall pushing kids out. They aren't and that's a nice try. Let's talk about parents being responsible for their kids, talk about a family. Guess people don't know what that is anymore. Take care of your kids, as you can see, others are tired of doing it for you.
Who's next?
I guess us "over fifty crowd" will be the next group to get the boot from McMall. Our walkers, canes, bad eyesite and less than perfect hygiene might be offensive to one of the neeks (nerd/geek) or Gent residents. I've had very few bad encounters with teens hanging out at the mall, most haven't been a bother to me and the few that have was more of a slight inconvenience than threat. Some have even been helpful and polite, most have been no different than any other person you'd pass in a mall. I've already decided that I wouldn't shop at McMall as long as this policy is in effect. It would be interesting to see what happens when one of the keystone rentacops demand to see an eighteen year old or twenty year old persons ID. I normally buy quite a bit of my Christmas shopping there but this year I will not be going there at all.
No, you're the generation
No, you're the generation with all the money. They will welcome you with open arms forever.
Don't Get It
I just do not get it. Growing up as a teenager, hanging out at the mall was just something my sister nor I ever did. Our parents got us involved in activities at school - basketball, cheerleading, yearbook, softball, volleyball, and then there was Girl Scouts (yeah, Girl Scouts), and other organizations that we were involved in. My parents kept us active in these and in family activities. What is wrong with parents doing that today. Seems to me parents do not want to be bothered. Just drop them off at the mall...so I can do what I want. How about spending quality time with your own children and learning about them and let them learn from you instead of being on the streets. I am now a mother and I can tell you this - my child will never just be dropped off at ANY mall...I don't care if it is supposed to be a higher society mall with security or not - it just isn't going to happen. If you keep your children occupied there is less chance they will become involved in things you don't want them to.
That’s…
…the way my daughters were raised. They didn’t ‘hang’ in malls. They’re grown now, one a mother of three. The other works with children and loves her job. I’m so proud of them.
Their mother and I were parents then. We’re friends now. They still meet and go malling with their Mom. They know better than to ask me. I’d rather go to the dentist than to a mall.
But what about the kids who
But what about the kids who aren't so lucky to have such involved parents? You're pretty much saying screw all other teens but your own. If they can't hang out at the mall, and their parents don't particularly care what they are doing, then they will turn to immoral/illegal activities.
I wonder what happened to this nation's sense of community? Everybody is only on this forum bragging about how perfect THEIR children and THEIR parenting is...somebody needs to give a crap about those other kids, the ones without the perfect parents, because those are the kids being pushed out into the street...into the parking garages...where the gangs, homeless people, and crime are. Do you not care that they are forcing teenage girls into the street to "wait for a ride"? Now who would be responsible if that girl was raped while waiting for that ride?
I guess you don't care. Your kids are with you, so who cares about the others, right?
It is always interesting to see large numbers of people
who think something is a "Right" when in fact it is a "Privelege".
I'm sure you would think
I'm sure you would think differently if your "privilege" of going to the mall was revoked, for pretty much no good reason.
It's discrimination, plain and simple. If they had said there is a curfew for black people, or senior citizens, or people with young children, or white people, or Jewish people, or Christian people, or Muslim people...Jesus, it would have rained lawsuits so hard that mall would have to close! But somehow, since it is a group of people that no one takes seriously, they can ban them based on some claim of security reasons?
I'd love to see the statistics showing that crime has reduced at MacArthur Center since the ban. I'd like to see the statistics showing that teenagers are responsible for the crime there. But I bet those statistics don't exist. Hence, discrimination.
"Discrimination"?
If the Mall's policy was actually dicrimination, someone would have already filed a lawsuit over it. Anyone who can pass Law 101 knows that minors don't have the same rights as adults.
If the kids were buying something, I would understand. However, face it: many of those kids were at the mall aimply to hang out. The MacArthur Center isn't an advanced day care facility.
As I work at a business at another mall in the area, I can tell you that teens simply hanging out often do become a secuirty problem.
Oh no
teens are now discriminated against, cause they have to be escorted by an adult over 21 to go into the mall after 5PM. It doesn't matter that the mall is private property.