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worked at hanes mall for severel years .Remember parents dumping children off at all times with little or no money.The poor children would act up ,steal sometimes due to lack of parental involvement in their lives . And their "loser" parents would become quite angry when security would ban them from the mall because they felt they were somehow entitled to the largest free babysitting service in N.C. .As usual , the parents would try to come off as some kind of hero to their kids by cussing out mall mgmt . and security always saying they were going to sue somebody creating a victim mentality in front of their children. Parents should raise their own children , not the mall.

Not at all surprising- parents have been doing this for years. About half of all shoplifters caught are under 20 years old. Most never are caught however. Inevitably, someone will mention last week's story about the mother and son arrested there last week. Seems even WITH adult supervision some kids can't be left alone. Of course, that fine woman's son was 30......

I have to say that in light of increasing disruptive and potentially dangerous behaviors of teens at our local malls, I do now agree that a new policy should be implemented for unescorted teens at night. Granted there are many good teens that do not cause problems at the mall, but unfortunately
nowadays they are outnumbered by the numbers of unruly young people who are disrespectful of others and of the laws in our communities. More and more kids are allowed to roam completely unsupervised 24/7 and they have no limits and no consequences for poor behavior. They are taught that they can do whatever they want and that they do not have to answer to anyone nor do they have any personal responsibility for their actions. This is a merely an extension of the problems our schools face everyday and unfortunately our teachers and administrators have little power to address.

This is a great idea. I havent darkened the door of any mall in the last couple of years because of the hordes of unruly, unsupervised children. I am not naive enough to think that parental escort will totally eradicate the problwm but am hoping that if the ban is allowed, there will be less unruly children at the malls.

Our parents must have done something right, because the phrase, "Let's go hang out at the mall," was never part of our vocabulary. In fact, should such an idea have been suggested it would have received quizzical looks. While being with friends is always a welcome way to pass the time as a teen, none of us thought doing so surrounded by stores and shoppers and security guards was the best way to 'waste' time.
Kids are still kids, so I have to question the lack of maturity of parents who would even consider "hanging out at the mall" to ever be a viable option for their children. A mall is a place of business. Unless one has business there, it's not an option. My child somehow managed to make it into adulthood without once going to the mall simply to "hang out."

This is an excellent policy...excellent. I have personal knowledge of retailers at Four Seasons who have complained to management to about the same issues. The malls that have a reputation on weekends as a hang out for rowdy teens, many folks end up staying away. This benefits no one.

I recall the former management of Four Seasons attempted to enforce a similar policy for the same reasons a number of years ago. I recall their attempt to enforce it was made into an issue of race. I hope that doesn't happen at Hanes Mall.

I certainly wish they would enforce the same policy at Four Seasons Mall. It is ridiculous over there. The last time I went to the mall, it was so overrun with crowds of unruly teens I swore I would never go back and haven't. If that rule is enforced, I would be back there in a heartbeat because of the convenience of the location.

This is an awesome idea. I too avoid the malls because you can't go anywhere in there without seeing kids who need supervision. Kids are not innocent like they used to be. Street gangs like the bloods and the crips are comprised of teens... related violent crimes like robbery and even murder now are often committed by teens. I'm not saying all of the kids are bad, but if parents don't care what their kids are doing, how easy do idle hands become the devil's playground? On the other hand, letting kids just roam around unsupervised creates the perfect victims for predators and pedophiles. Leaving your kids alone at the mall doesn't keep them safe...I'm all for this.

I hope this is approved! I haven't been to the mall in years, including Christmas time. It seems that parents have been giving their children increasingly more power and freedom than they are able to handle. Children need to be guided, mentored and taught to respect the world around them. They cannot do this if they are left unattended for hours at a time. Freedom should be earned by proving good judgement and respect. Malls, public swimming pools and other free or cheap venues are not subsitutes for monitored activities. Teenagers do not need their parents to be their "BFFs." Quite the opposite! I grew up having respect for my parents and elders. Sadly, this concept seems alien in today's world!

This is WONDERFUL news. Although we do not shop at Hanes often, I do hope this idea spreads to Four Seasons and other enclosed malls. I rarely go anymore not only because my kids are grown but because of the negative concerns previously mentioned. I do not at all think that businesses will suffer. I think this will encourage sales because more older adults without children will to want to go shopping if they feel their environment is safe. Especially on such nasty days like we have had lately. And, if shoplifting is a huge issue, would companies not be in a better position to not have to "cut their losses" which in return causes prices to go up. Kids are just being kids. They are in their narcissitic time zone and just want to have fun. But, with fun comes responsibility. With this policy parents have the opportunity to help their children be responsible, display mature actions, and make wise choices. Psychologically, physically, or morally, younger kids are not ready to run free without supervision or being held accountable for negative actions.

I applaud CBL for taking these steps. Several years ago, they did the same thing at a large mall they own back where I'm from. It's helped settle things down tremendously.

GGP needs to take the same measures at Four Seasons immediately. National Geographic could film an entire season of Gang Wars episodes just at Four Seasons Mall alone. It's a zoo in there.

This is a great idea. I do not visit the Malls often because of what I have seen going on in them. I wish something would be done to Four Seasons. I visited this Mall this past weekend with my five year old daughter and the language that was coming out of the "younger" unsupervised children was awful. My daughter even said something to me about the ugly things people were saying. Kids will be kids, but the responsibility of the children are the parents involved in their life. They pick up what they hear, whether it be at home or at school and they express themselves in how they are raised. I fully support parental supervision with a child up to the age of 18 and older. I visited Four Season when I was younger without adult supervision but I also knew how to behave and respect others. The respect for others is missing in most of our younger generation.

I don't see how they are going to enforce the policy... First of all, how is this new policy with the curfew going to change security? Security has to deal with inappropriate conduct and language among teens now. They will have to deal with problems of determining whether a teen looks like they are under 18 or not if the curfew is enforced. For instance: what happens when you have an 18-year-old kid who looks like they are 16 that walks into the mall and forgets to bring a form of identification. Is security going to have to kick that person out of the mall? Let's say there are only four security guards that are working inside the mall and a large group of teenagers sneak in on one section of the mall, get caught, and security has to confront them. And in another department another group of teenagers decide to sneak in. While security guards are dealing with one group of teens, the other group of teens gets to walk freely around the mall, so your basically dealing with the same security issues if the policy is not enforced. Think about tough times in the economy. Teenagers are a big part of bringing in business, especially on the weekends. I'm sure a lot of parents need a break from their teenagers on the weekends from putting in long hours during the week at work. The parents are responsible enough to determine if their kid is responsible enough to go to the mall. Maybe, Hane's mall should enforce a policy on the number of teenagers in a group that should be allowed in the mall. Yes teenagers are rowdy and cause problems, but adults will be rude, steal, and do the same things as teens would. Some parents even work on the weekends and can't take their kids shopping for a coat or something. This policy will also make things complicated for parents during Christmas. A parent might decide to drop their teen off at the mall to help them with Christmas shopping while they run errands. A store might not reach a sales goal because of this policy. I don't know if there are any stores that pay there employees on commission, but less shoppers will affect a person's pay check, who is paid on commission. If the teens can't get into Hanes Mall, they will just go and be rowdy in Wal Mart. Setting clocks to ring at different intervals, throwing balls across the store, riding bikes inside, etc. I'm over 18, but I think this new policy is going to be ridiculous. I think security is just lazy, and needs to enforce stricter punishments if kids do use inappropriate conduct or language. One time I walked into a bathroom at Hanes Mall when I was a kid, and a man walked out of one of the stalls, and I went in right after to take a dump, and there were beer cans all over the toilet, and floor, so that shows that adults can show inappropriate conduct in public places just like teens. This also makes me wonder how security let this guy in with all of those beers. Also, what is the difference between kids being allowed in the mall after 5 on a Thursday as opposed to a Friday. Usually, the teens that are trouble makers will not stay at home and do homework during the week and come to the mall on Thursday instead of Friday. There is so much more I can talk about, but I think I said enough. I hope these posts actually will be viewed by someone who is or is not going to enforce the policy. I just don't understand Hane's Mall's reasoning.