Teen bans on the rise: malls, theme parks, and even a Chick-fil-A are requiring chaperones to stop rowdy minors
- Shopping malls, theme parks, and a Chick-fil-A restaurant are starting to require chaperones for teenagers.
- The policies are in response to rowdy behavior and fighting, which often ends up being posted on TikTok.
Malls, restaurants, and theme parks across the country are starting to put a new policy in place: no teens allowed with chaperones.
Southern California's Knott's Berry Farm announced in April that it was instituting a stricter policy in response to "increasing incidents of unruly and inappropriate behavior," the theme park said.
The new policy further limits the park's teenage visitors. In July, fighting broke out between teens that forced the park to shut down early — in response, Knott's Berry Farm banned anyone 17 and younger to visit the park or its water park, Soak City, unchaperoned on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
The new policy goes even further: now, anyone age 15 or younger will need to be accompanied by an adult after 4 p.m.
Knott's Berry Farm isn't alone in cracking down on unsupervised teenage visitors recently. Westfield Garden State Plaza, New Jersey's oldest mall located in the northern city of Paramus, announced in April that anyone under the age of 18 needs an adult chaperone after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The mall is also adding "waiting zones" for teens who need to be picked up after the curfew begins.
Wesley Rebisz, the mall's senior general manager, told NorthJersey.com that the new policy is in response to "large crowds of teens" who "aren't just enjoying the property."
"They're being unruly, violating code of conduct, which can include running through the property in large groups, fighting and putting it on TikTok, basically disrupting business and making it uncomfortable for our everyday customers," he said.
The Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh added a similar policy in March — chaperones required for anyone under 18 on Fridays and Saturdays after 3 p.m. — as did Cincinnati, Ohio, amusement park Kings Island, where park-goers 15 and under now require adult supervision after 4 p.m.
Curfews are nothing new, especially at shopping malls
These types of policies began cropping up in the 1980s and 1990s, when malls became de facto town squares and the center of many Americans' social lives, and they've come back from time to time in response to rowdy teens, Gothamist reported.
But curfews haven't always won support. When Mall of America instituted a curfew for teenagers in 1996, it was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, who said it infringed on young people's rights and that it should be the job of parents, not a mall or the government, to make decisions about their kids.
Today's wave of teen-restrictive policies hasn't seemed to draw the ire of the ACLU yet, and some businesses argue they're necessary to protect their stores and employees.
Restaurant management at a Chick-fil-A in a suburb of Philadelphia announced on Facebook in February a new policy for young customers after a series of "unacceptable behaviors."
According to the post, groups of kids and teens who came in without adults were loudly using explicit language, throwing food and trash, vandalizing tables and restrooms, stealing decorations, making fun of and cursing at employees, and walking through the drive-thru lanes.
Now, anyone under age 16 must be accompanied by an adult to dine in — or take their food to go.
"Parents, we are not blaming you. Children and teens are learning to navigate the world free from supervision and often push the boundaries," a post says. "We simply can't let them push those boundaries anymore at our restaurant."