(Headline USA) Starting April 18, Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey — the second largest mall in the state — is requiring anyone under 18 years old to be accompanied by a chaperone at least 21 or older on Fridays and Saturdays after 5 p.m.
The move, according to the mall, follows “an increase in disruptive behavior by a small minority of younger visitors.” That included a reported brawl in the food court last year and a fight in March that brought swarms of policemen to the center but ended up being a smaller altercation than initially reported.
Requiring an adult chaperone at malls, at least for certain times of the day, is not new. Mall of America, the nation’s largest shopping mall, imposed a chaperone policy back in 1996 and has been increasingly tightening it as recently as 2020 when it mandated that teens be accompanied by adults after 3 p.m. daily.
But experts say Garden State Plaza joins a growing number of shopping centers, amusement parks and even a few restaurants that have implemented similar policies in the last few months ahead of the summer season. And they all cite increased incidents of bad behavior among teens as the reason, some of it inspired by social media like TikTok.
Even a Chik-fil-A franchise in southeast Pennsylvania caused a stir with its social media post earlier this year that announced its policy of banning kids under 16 without an adult chaperone, citing unruly behavior.
In the years since 2020, authorities in some areas report a rise in crime among youth, including New York, Washington, D.C. and Colorado.
Many praise chaperone policies as a way to reduce disruptions to business and create a safer shopping environment.
At Garden State Plaza on a recent Friday night, the chaperone policy was clearly being enforced, with security guards stationed at each entrance and checking IDs of young shoppers they suspected were under 18 and who were not accompanied by an adult chaperone. Some were turned away. A cluster of policemen were also at the gates.
Meanwhile, several amusement parks with chaperone policies are generally requiring teens 15 years old or younger to be accompanied with adult chaperones after 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. every day. The largest group has been amusement park operator Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which recently implemented adult chaperone policies for at least eight of its 13 parks including Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri, and King Dominion in Doswell, Virginia.
“Over the past two years, we have seen increasing incidents of unruly and inappropriate behavior across our industry and at other major entertainment venues,” said Gary Rhodes, a spokesman for Cedar Fair in a statement. “We believe these changes will help ensure that our parks continue to provide a safe and positive environment.”
At Worlds of Fun, for example, a fight involving more than 100 teenagers broke out during the park’s opening weekend in early April.
Some businesses say the new rules have been effective.
The Mall in Columbia, Maryland instituted a chaperone policy at the end of March after a rise in disruptive teen behavior over the past eight months, according senior general manager Mary Williams. She said that the weekend scene has turned into a pleasant family atmosphere because of it.
Noah Peters, district manager at three Capital 8 Theater locations in Missouri and Illinois, said that the chaperone policy implemented in Missouri in October 2021 requires teens under 17 to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian after 6 p.m. And despite some outcry, it has been a “huge success,” citing anywhere from a 80% to 90% reduction in disruptive episodes.
“The reality is that the amount of money we lose turning those without a chaperone away pales to the amount we were losing providing refunds night after night to frustrated guests whose movie going experience was marred by the noise and disruptions,” Peters said.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
