By Steve Gillespie / managing editor
July 20, 2008 12:07 am
—
Bonita Lakes Mall plans to start enforcement of its new Youth Escort Policy on Friday.
I think it's sweet that the mall wants family members to shop together on the weekends, rather than separate, but this policy seems a little draconian to me.
The mall manager said it is the same policy that is in place at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., the largest mall in the United States.
That's not exactly accurate. Let's consider the differences:
• Bonita Lakes Mall policy takes effect at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday evenings. The Mall of America policy begins at 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday ... there's lots more places to shop.
• Bonita Lakes Mall policy applies to everyone under the age of 18. Mall of America policy applies to ages 15 and under.
• Bonita Lakes Mall policy states anyone younger than 18 must be accompanied by a "parent" or "guardian," and that "one parent over 21 years of age may escort all of his/her children. Additionally, one parent or guardian over 21 years of age may escort up to three youths, at least one of which must be the child of the parent or guardian." Mall of America policy states anyone younger than 16 must be accompanied by an adult (21 years or older) and that one adult may supervise up to 10 youth.
Bonita Lakes Mall officials were asked by local media how the mall would respond to situations when large groups of young people are going to be around, like all the Junior Miss contestants in town this week, and when State Games are going on, field trips, church groups, etc ... Our mall officials said it would deal with those on a case-by-case basis, which means they're prepared to make exceptions to their policy whenever they want.
What's unfair about this?
I hope the mall always has thriving success. I also hope everyone affected by this new policy holds the mall accountable for its fair enforcement.
It's not that I think the mall people are evil. It's just a fact that the more controlling a policy is, the more it begs for exceptions to be made to it, and the more exceptions we allow ourselves to make gives us the latitude to be real unfair, whether we mean to or not.
The "parent" or "guardian" demands instead of just requiring someone over 21 to accompany kids in this policy does nothing but ensure confusion, and that if you come from a single-parent family, you might not have as much of an opportunity to get in the mall Friday or Saturday night. Unless mall security is going to require DNA testing or court documents at the entrances every weekend, they have no way of really enforcing its policy that one in three kids has to be yours, or you can bring all your own kids. But, with a policy like this, if the mall decides for whatever reason, it wants out, it has a better chance of citing you with a violation of its policy.
Is it fair to make generalizations upon a whole segment of society based on the actions of individuals in the first place? I tried to approach this in what I thought was a humorous example in my last column, when I turned the complaints against kids at the mall around, and said senior citizens hanging out at the mall and using it as a walking track bothered me more than teenagers hanging out there. I'm not really bothered by either, but I think a senior citizen or two took my comments personally. I think it hurt some feelings, and I'm sorry for that. But, it should make them realize just how this policy makes some of these kids feel.
The bottom line
Most of the kids here aren't just good kids, they are great kids. And while mall officials said about 50 percent of the behavior and crime problems they've had to put up with since January were from youth, that means 50 percent of the incidents dealt with adults. Meridian Police Chief Benny DuBose couldn't give us the numbers we were dealing with that those percentages reflect because he said that was the mall's own calculations and that it didn't come from his department. So, still keeping it murky for us, we don't know if that's 50 percent of two incidents or 50 percent of 1,000 incidents.
The mall also presented its figures in a different way in its press release saying 60 percent of such problems was from youth and young adults. We don't know what age "young" adult is to the mall, but no adults are being kept from coming to the mall whenever they want. If the mall did that the American Civil Liberties Union would swoop down on them like a hungry vampire, as well it should.
If disruptive individuals, no matter what age they are, can't be dealt with effectively between the mall's security staff and the Meridian Police Department's branch at the mall, then the problem really isn't with the kids.
The mall is going to do whatever it needs to do to make as much money as possible. It's a mall. If other malls are doing it and seeing revenues go up, that's what's going to happen everywhere. But, it's insulting to act like this is more about keeping unruly kids out, than it is about bringing more adults with money in.
Speaking of insults
I think our "community leaders" the mall said it consulted with prior to implementing this policy, which included representatives from some groups supported all or in part by our tax dollars — the city of Meridian, Meridian Police Department, and the East Mississippi Business Development Corp. — should have rejected the idea of such a policy on behalf of our youth, or at least strongly recommended that it only apply to kids who are under the age of 16 ... like the Mall of America.
Bonita Lakes Mall's Web site says it has a gross leasing area of 633,685 square feet, has more than 100 shopping venues (including the movie theater and food places), and welcomes more than 8 million shoppers annually. The Mall of America's Web site says it has 2.5 million square feet of leasable space, more than 520 stores, 86 food places, a 14-screen movie theater, a theme park, a walkthrough aquarium, and many other attractions that bring in 40 million shoppers each year. Seven Yankee Stadiums could fit inside the Mall of America. It's a tourist attraction, and therefore a little more understandable to have an adult with kids 15 and under on weekend nights.
Once kids are 16 years old they can hold a valid driver's license, they can get a job, and I think they should be given a little more consideration over things like this, a little more independence, a little more of a chance to be responsible.
Our community leaders keep telling these kids that they are our future, that it is vital that they stay in school, make good grades, and return to Meridian to work and raise their families. With the community leaders' blessings upon this policy they also are saying: "We just don't really have a lot of use for you as an independent person in the present. You kind of annoy us, and we're sort of scared of you."
These young people understand that the military is really interested in them already. And they know they'll get a lot of attention from our "community leaders" in a couple of years when they can vote for them, or for the next bond issue. They get the message loud and clear ... we want you when we can use you.
Steve Gillespie is managing editor of The Meridian Star.
E-mail him at
sgillespie@themeridianstar.com.
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