At shopping malls, teens' hanging out is wearing thin

Speeding through the corridors of the South Shore Plaza outside Boston, a pack of baby-faced teen boys clad in jeans and baseball caps draw angry stares from store clerks and customers. But they don't seem to care: They're hip, they're loud - and they like getting in trouble.

Hanging out at the mall for teens is as traditional as Friday night football games or the annual prom. It's an escape from chores at home and a chance to flirt and cut loose under artificial lights.

But some malls are saying, "No more." In an attempt to cut back on rowdy behavior and loitering that many establishments say has become unbearable in recent years, malls are implementing policies that require teens to be accompanied by adults after certain hours, effectively putting an end to a weekend routine long memorialized in classic flicks like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Mallrats."

The latest example is Eastfield Mall in Springfield, Mass., where as of Sept. 6 teens under 16 will not be able to cruise the mall without adult supervision in the evenings. Eastfield is following the lead of the nearby Holyoke Mall at Ingleside, which also has an escort policy. Both centers join a growing number of US malls enforcing such guidelines, from Chambersburg, Pa., to Chattanooga, Tenn., according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Mall managers say that packs of teens deter families from choosing the mall as their Friday night outing. Many complain they have become de facto baby sitters. And some invoke a moral principle: Parents, they say, no matter how frazzled and frenzied, should not be dropping off their kids unsupervised in such an unstructured setting for so long.

But some kids and parents are challenging the new policies. In Chicopee, Mass., 15-year-old Mike Lemme, who says he hangs out with his friends every few weeks at the Holyoke Mall, started an online petition that has gathered more than 1,000 signatures. The site also lets teens air their thoughts. Some teens declare they would never set foot at the mall with their parents; others say the plan is downright misguided - that malls aren't places where teens cause trouble, but where they are kept safe.

"There are not that many places where teenagers can go and socialize," says Mike. "Instead of banning all teenagers, they should find a way to get the people causing the trouble out."

Experts say that interest in escort policies owes much to the changing nature of malls, as Internet shopping, specialty stores, and large discounters have fueled fierce competition in retailing. "What has happened today is that the mall is working harder than ever to be a social experience," says Roger Blackwell, a retired professor of consumer behavior at Ohio State University.

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