Breaking: Christiana Mall to Ban African Americans on Weekends
Christiana Mall has had enough of African Americans taking over their mall. Amid complaints that their more affluent customers “don’t feel comfortable” on the weekends with all these blacks running around, sitting in the food court and congregating around urban themed stores, the mall has decided to take action. Effective next month, the mall will have security guards placed at all entrances to check the skin color of all entering customers. Anyone deemed “too dark” will be denied entrance. Also beginning at 5 o’clock on Fridays, these “shoppers” will be escorted out of the mall.
The mall is considering how they will deal with Hispanics, but the Asians are safe for now, due to their above average buying power. Also, there are very few complaints that the Asians make the older white customers feel unsafe.
Another unresolved issue is how the mall will deal with gays. There have been complaints from families that they aren’t comfortable with gay couples prowling the mall while there are white people with children walking around. “The gay question is trickier, because those people lie so easily, it won’t be as simple as asking if they are straight,” said a mall spokesperson who declined to be named.
All of this is made possible because the mall is private property, rather than a “public” place. Earlier in the week the mall made news when they banned unaccompanied teenagers on the weekend. No word on whether the minorities would be permitted if escorted by their white friends.
Note: this isn’t true.
Tags: Satire
You are on a roll… and you have a point.
Now, what about those old people blocking the flow of traffic inside the mall. Can we set shopper speed limits? And what about baby strollers?
Yeah, and those old people aren’t buying anything… Moochers.
When was the last time you guys went to the mall on a Friday night? It’s really bad. Teenagers (of all races – way more white than black) are yelling, screaming and carrying on like a bunch of wild animals. It’s a freaking mall, for shit’s sake, not a football game.
So ban the behavior – not a class of people.
You beat me to it, anon.
This must be cheaper than hiring some real security and developing real policies.
I only go to the mall on Friday nights for the entertainment of seeing the little shits act like barnyard animals. I’m not spending my money on a hundred-dollar pair of jeans and a couture bag anyhow.
Free entertainment!
The older walkers in the morning could be kind of pushy and loud too 🙂 Seriously though, I find it interesting that we’re pissing off the very people that will be paying for our Social Security when we get old. I think I was rather loud and obnoxious when I was a teenager (and some people would say that’s true of me now) and no one closed the malls to me.
If they ban the blacks, then who’s gonna patronize Arthur Treachers?
If they ban the gays then who’s gonna shop at The Pottery Barn?
How would you suggest banning the behavior? The place was already riddled with police officers and security guards. You can’t arrest someone for being obnoxious and making people uncomfortable.
I’m all for personal freedom, but I also expect people to behave in a civilized manner. I’m not talking about tea and crumpets. I’m talking about normal human behavior. I seriously doubt any of you have ever really been there on a Friday night, otherwise you would know that this is the only decision the mall could make and they’re about 5 years too late in making it.
Lest we forget, the mall is a business establishment; it’s not a playground. I would have been very uncomfortable going to work there on a Friday night and retailers no doubt lost a lot of money because shoppers would stay home.
Mark – It’s one thing for a couple of people to be loud and obnoxious; it’s something entirely different when dozens of people are behaving like that.
It’s not exactly an office environment either, Dom. It is a business establishment that has taken the place of our traditional downtown retail shops. I don’t have a problem bouncing people that violate some level of decorum. It is a business, but what other class of people would it be OK to ban from the mall? Illegal immigrants? Midgets?
Poor Christiana Mall, those mean ol’ teenagers are just so difficult to deal with. I have a friend with a business in Newark, and he always has trouble with rude, obnoxious teenagers skateboarding in his parking lot. He calls the cops on them. If they get busted a second time, they are fined.
Seems to work for him.
business establishment that has taken the place of our traditional downtown retail shops
These malls also are designed to be an entertainment destination — it is supposed to be a place where you can go and look at the stuff you aspire to. Now they are stuck with a bunch of teens who are doing their consumerist part while messing with the shopping “experience” of their parents. It seems to me that if there were any adults in the room, they’d be agitating for better entertainment options for their teens.
Oh Cass, all the entertainment options are covered in another post…
If they want to get rid of kids maybe they should stop marketing to them.
First, kick out the stores that market mostly to teens. Replace them with full-service restaurants.
Then remove about 2/3 of the locations from the food court. Replace the pizza shop with a kiosk that sells hearing-aid batteries.
Then remove most of the food seating, and replace the tables with tiny stand-up pedestal tables, and no chairs.
Fill up the back half of the former food court with a police and security substation. Install the new tiny tables directly adjacent to the main aisle, and remove the shrubbery and any kiosks that obscure the view.
And add a kiosk called “Tea & Crumpets.”
What this mall needs is an Early-Bird Special!
Geek, you owe me a new keyboard! I just spit milk all over it laughing at the headline.
How true, how true~!!
/not true
true
Poor Christiana Mall, those mean ol’ teenagers are just so difficult to deal with. I have a friend with a business in Newark, and he always has trouble with rude, obnoxious teenagers skateboarding in his parking lot. He calls the cops on them. If they get busted a second time, they are fined.
*
Geez, this brings back memories of the skinheads and punks that draped themselves all over Main Street in the 1990’s in Newark.
Geek is correct. The mall is the new main street. The issue on whether we have the protected freedoms of assembly there because it is all private property was addressed when the Buy Nothing people (Alan Muller, Mike Berg and the White sisters) got busted and lost the court case.
It should probably have been appealed.
There is a rationale for stigmatizing ‘mall rats’.
I suspect that regulations imposed by owners of private property will not be enforced in an arbitrary fashion but send a warning that a place for commerce is not a playground for bored teens.
People with money to spend are always welcome.
Geek – The mall is not public property; it’s privately owned. Let’s say you ran a retail establishment out of your home and a bunch of rowdy teenagers decided it was a cool place to hang out so they show up on your busiest nights, don’t buy anything, trash the place and scare off your regular customers. What would you do?
The ban doesn’t go into effect until July 11th. Why don’t all of you defenders of the poor misunderstood teenagers pop over there with your young kids tomorrow night at about 8:30-9:00 to get an idea of what the place is like? It’s not a Hannah Montana fan club gathering. It’s more like the Nine Inch Nails crowd.
I’ll go.
If they want to get rid of kids maybe they should stop marketing to them.
First, kick out the stores that market mostly to teens.
Okay – I’m an old fogey….but what goes on inside Abacrombie & Finch? If I didn’t know it was a retail store I would have thought it was gay bar circa 1990.
I am so tired of adults who rather than deal with children throw up their hands in defeat… or better yet make a new law or rule. It’s like adding another page to the Code of Conduct book handed out in schools. Useless, unless enforced.
So, how did the situation at the Christiana Mall become so bad? Umm… because it was tolerated? By adults.
And we’re so good at making laws that punish everyone. One of my favorites: No dogs allowed on the beach at any time. Why? Well, because some dog owners are irresponsible so let’s punish everyone.
Kids misbehaving at the mall… let’s punish them all rather than deal with the trouble-makers. And if all the kids are trouble-makers (which I doubt) then we have bigger problems than banning will cure.
And yes, I am one of those adults who has no problem approaching a group of kids and telling them to ‘knock it off’. Guess what? Nine out of ten times it works.
Funny you should say that. Every time I’ve gone in that store and looked at the pictures of the beautiful men frolicking with the women I’ve wondered how many of them are straight.
Seriously, P, meet Jason at the mall tomorrow night. It’s not what you think. This isn’t a handful of teens misbehaving and they’re hardly the kind of kids who would respond to you telling them to knock it off. They would laugh in your face and probably follow you around the mall harassing you. Don’t you remember the story about the huge fight that broke out in the food court?
These are not wholesome kids who are just looking for something to do on a Friday night. Though there may be a few good ones, the rowdy ones way outnumber them. If this was something that could be handled by the police/security guards, they wouldn’t have made this decision. Think about it, why would a retail establishment want to ban ANYONE if they had another viable alternative?
This reminds me of recent complaints about the failure of library staff in controlling the behavior of kids bothering certain library users. I suggested that when in the library, I just quietly ask the noisy ones to shhhh with a grin and nod. 19 out of 20 times it brought the desired change and good feelings all around. The library staff should be enforcing the posted rules in libraries about being quiet and use of cell phones etc. Often the staff is spineless or uninterested in enforcing the rules.
The mall should post rules and enforce them. Prohibiting a class of individuals rather than the behavior is absurd.
I predict the rule will remain on the books, but will be quietly neglected due to pressure from the merchants that sell to kids.
Of course like any other rule, it will be applied selectively and used only to arbitrarily harass certain kids, while certain other kids will remain blithely unaffected by the rule.
How would you suggest banning the behavior? The place was already riddled with police officers and security guards.
Gee Dominique, looks like you answered your own question.
Sorry, Dom, I’m beach-bound tomorrow afternoon. I don’t doubt that the problem is out of control, but that is what the police are for. If there’s a fight in a bar the police are called. If there’s a domestic problem in a home the police are called.
Arresting a bunch of kids a few times and having their parents come down and bail them out would go a long way in solving the problem.
My father was a police officer. There was a huge problem with turfing. Kids got in trouble, then went out and did it again until my Dad came up with a solution… He had his officers impound the car’s (read parents’ cars) tires as evidence. Imagine the parents’ reaction when they faced a tire-less car. Ouch! BTW, turfing stopped.
Where’s Al Sharpton when you need him?
The townsfolk were crouchy sods but the teens learned to tread lightly because your dad didn’t spare the rod.
Geek – The mall is not public property; it’s privately owned.
Dom is right in that the Mall can do this and it is within their right to do so, just as it is ours to bitch about it and make it difficult for them to enforce it.
On a much more important note, when are they going to enact the ban on liberals or at least DelawareLiberal contributors?
BTW, did any of you hear the WDEL talkback today on this? One of the responses was about how it will be good not to navigate “through all those HOOLIGANS…” What a crotchety old ass!
Was that you, Jason?
What about the parents if these kids are under the legal age 18 they are the responsilbilty of a parent or guardian bust the kids fine the parents
Maybe if it starts costing the parents for the free babysitting some of this crap may calm down
Exactly. This is an enforcement issue. The mall is just too lazy to enforce, so instead, they have banned a class of people.
Al Mascitti seems to have misunderstood this post. The point is that we wouldn’t stand for this kind of treatment of any other group or class of people. The entire thing seems like a civil rights lawsuit or a boycottable (is that a word?) offense if it were applied to anyone other that people under 18.
I think Al mischaracterized the post on the radio as indicating that the post was pointing out that this move was to get black kids out of the mall. Correct me if I’m wrong, Al.
When Obama is elected president, malls will be required to have Islam-only shopping hours, so that Muslims won’t be offended by women exposing their ankles or shopping without a male escort.
Reminds me of a story that went something like…and then they came for the gays and I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t gay, and then they came for the catholics and I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t Catholic, and then they came for me, and there was nobody left to say anything for me.
Geek: I wasn’t talking about this post, I was talking about the motivation behind the ban. If you think black kids aren’t one of the targeted groups here, you haven’t been to the mall on Friday or Saturday night. The two “threatening” groups — and the threat is strictly in the minds of those feeling threatened — are goths and blacks. If it was bikers, I’d add them to the mix, but I haven’t seen evidence of that sort of crowd.
You guys are insane. This is nothing like shushing someone in a library.
First, black kids aren’t the problem – the goths are the most creepy, intimidating ones in the crowd. Second, if the police started arresting kids for being obnoxious, you guys would be the first to cry about how their civil rights were being violated (somehow screaming at the top of your lungs and acting like a wild animal in a business establishment would be covered by the 1st amendment). Third, until you’ve been there and witnessed the problem you really should refrain from judging the mall’s decision.
Perhaps we should table the discussion until Saturday so you guys have a chance to take a look for yourselves. Until then, you really can’t speak objectively about the situation.
I have seen it, Dom. Perhaps you aren’t threatened by the black kids, but I’m sure some people are.
Al –
I have a few questions…
Having been there, did you feel comfortable shopping or did you want to get the hell out of there as soon as possible? What do you think the mall could have done differently to remedy the situation? On what grounds could the police arrest or fine these kids? Aren’t their hands kind of tied in a situation where no law is actually being broken?
I’m sorry that I missed your show. I would have loved to have heard your take on it. Unfortunately, I live in radio-free Pike Creek and I have to be a contortionist to get WDEL’s signal even though it’s only about 10 miles away. It reminds me of the rabbit-ear TV days.
Al, you mean typical white people, like Obama’s grandmother? And wasn’t Bill Clinton’s midnight basketball program supposed to fix this?
(I would normally say something about black bikers, but I met a bunch of guys from the Buffalo Soldiers MC while I was on the road a few weeks ago, and they were pretty cool.)
What are the goth kids going to do, suck your blood out like the vamps some of them emulate? Get the freak over it, pardon the pun. If they became violent, then fine, there’s a major problem. The most danger they present is usually unto themselves with marking, burning, etc.
If they were a little more extroverted outside of the cliques (lack of a better term), you would find out they have a lot to express. Believe me, having been close to goth culture from the predecessor days in the mid-80’s up to the mid-90’s, we’re the freaks that have no clue about the world around us. I somewhat agree, too. We’re so closed-minded and self-assured that we’re always right, it’s no wonder those not like us are the bad ones, in our own minds.
Also, I agree with Al. I think there is more to this than the goth culture. I don’t know if it’s specifically African American kids or not, but I think there is something and collateral damage was just an easy way to make it enforcable.
Al – OK, I heard you say something about the blogs and black kids being targeted. I was hoping that you hadn’t misconstrued my post.
Dom – it is private property, so no laws have to be broken, just rules. It would only take a few weeks of cracking down on the offenders and the problem would dissipate. Punish the behavior, not the entire age group.
As to the argument that they are doing the same thing all over the country, that isn’t necessarily so. Loudell had an expert on yesterday and it was less than 1% of malls of this size.
Oh…additionally, don’t get it in your heads that all goth kids are the counter-culture like the jack-hole suicidal murderers from Columbine. Every societal group has elements like that, no matter how deceptively perfect they may seem to be.
“Having been there, did you feel comfortable shopping or did you want to get the hell out of there as soon as possible? ”
I always want to get out as soon as possible; I won’t shop there ever since the “Buy Nothing” fiasco a few years back. A bunch of teens isn’t going to scare me off. Then again, I go shopping at places like Cowtown, where the crowd sometimes looks like the cast reunion of “Deliverance.”
But — full disclosure here — I have dropped off my now-15-year-old son and a couple of friends on the occasional weekend night. They actually do make purchases (clothing, generally, and I’m sure they get something to eat). I think it’s strictly a cost-cutting move — they could keep a lid on it with more cops, but they don’t want to shell out the money.
You know, if the Mall can’t stop the bad behavior what makes you think they’re going to be able to enforce this new rule?
And Geek is correct. It is private property, so kick them out. I would assume the parking lot is private as well so post “no loitering” signs. Then, if they don’t move on, arrest them. Right now it seems they behave badly because they get away with it.
Inconvenience is a strong behavior changing incentive.
none of this would be a problem if we could have done what Lincoln wanted to do and gave them their own island to colonize….
sigh
Geek –
I’m fine with your suggestion of cracking down on the offenders, but how would you suggest they do that? What happens when a security guard/police officer taps someone on the shoulder and tells them to quiet down and they don’t? If they have no legal recourse, what are their options?
There are police officers in the mall to keep these kids reined in. Who do you think pays for that? I don’t know about you guys, but I think that’s a terrible waste of tax dollars and resources.
Maybe those of you who feel so strongly that teens should have a place to hang out should get together and start a business. If there’s that much of a need, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding customers. Seems like a no-brainer, right? I wonder why there aren’t any such establishments. Is it because they’re high risk and unprofitable (kind of like the mall on Friday/Saturday nights)? Please tell me how you justify it being the mall’s responsibility to entertain them, ensure their security AND lose their paying customers at the same time.
domonique really loves taking a post and driving it into the ground…good lord
P – cha-ching! cha-ching! We seem to toss ‘arrest them’ around like it’s a cure-all. It costs money to have a police presence in the mall. It costs money to arrest and process people. Those costs are passed on to all of us in the form of taxes and higher prices, not to mention the police could be put to better use in high-crime areas. Big picture, guys, big picture. There are other options for kids. They may not be as much fun as the mall, but there are options.
Al – It was stupid of me to ask a guy about how quickly he wanted to get out of the mall. Duh. Let me rephrase the question – how would your wife feel about being there? Does she go to the mall on Friday nights or does she shy away from it like I have for years? FTR, I am uncomfortable around aggressive teenagers regardless of race or gender (sometimes the girls are even scarier than the guys).
I’m sorry if your kids was one of the good ones that will suffer for the deeds of the rest, but life isn’t always fair. How many times did the nuns in your school punish the whole class because a few kids were out of line? It sucked, but it was the only way to control the whole group. The mall situation is even worse because we’re not talking about 2 or 3 out of 25 kids; it’s a much larger population.
Dom – I hate to be simplistic here, but if you tap them on the shoulder and ask them to quiet down and they don’t, you escort them out. This is exactly what they are going to do at 5PM on Fridays to everyone.
As for the cops, they are paid by the mall, I believe. So no, your tax dollars aren’t funding it. Controlling crowds is the cost of doing business if you are a mall. How many guards do you think it will take to cover every door into the mall? There have to be 2 dozen doors, at 2 guards each we are talking about a small army.
I’m sorry if your kids was one of the good ones that will suffer for the deeds of the rest, but life isn’t always fair.
I’m sorry if you are one of the good black folks, but the bad black folks screwed it up for the rest of you. Life isn’t always fair.
Cha-ching? Maybe at first, but if the mall is consistent about not tolerating bad behavior the behavior will change.
And, Geek is right again (Damn, you’re getting on my nerves with all this logic!) the mall pays for its security/police – just like St. Anthony’s Italian Festival.
My biggest problem with this “rule” is that it seems the mall has skipped the enforcement effort. Have they tried kicking kids out? Having them arrested or detained until their parents show up? And let’s face it, most kids would change their ways if there were consequences to their actions. Too much hassle.
OMG, is it ALWAYS about race for you guys?
The cost most certainly does trickle down to us. They can’t just have guards standing at the two dozen doors, they have to have them patrolling the mall as well. Do you think the mall just absorbs those costs? Of course not. They transfer it to the merchants who transfer it to their customers. Also, who do you think pays for the arrests that are made at the mall? Each of those arrests results in a fine that needs to be processed and/or a court date. The mall doesn’t cover those expenses…we do.
BTW, you totally oversimplified; what’s to stop a kid who’s been escorted out from simply walking to one of the two dozen other doors and and reentering?
Same thing that stops people at casino’s and the Italian Festival, guards.
My guess is that the mall has been skimping on protection and now has to find an emergency response that and dunderhead can implement.
And it isn’t about race, but when I substitute any other broad group of people, it sounds completely stupid as a policy.
P – Yes, St. Anthony’s is a great example. They now charge a $5 admission. Why? Is it to cover the expense they incur from the additional security or do you guys all think that was racism, too?
What makes you think that the mall has skipped the enforcement effort? This has been a problem for years and they’re just now doing something drastic. Think about it, there are good kids being banned who would have represented potential revenue. It takes a lot for a retail establishment to turn away business, especially in this economy, so I doubt this is a decision they came to lightly. My guess is that they did everything they could to curb the problem before they decided to take this route.
Geek – Again, have you been to the mall on a Friday night? The last time I was there, the place was riddled with security, but it was still like a zoo.
I’m begging you guys to go tomorrow night and report back to me. You act like these are sweet kids from a church group. THEY’RE NOT. They’re unruly, they’re rude and they travel in loud, intimidating packs.
I think St. Anthony’s like the Brandywine Arts Festival charged admission because they thought they could. St. Anthony’s numbers were down, we’ll see if they charge next year – I doubt it.
But, here’s the difference. The police at St. Anthony’s actually arrest people. Unruly, rude, packs are dealt with.
Basically, I avoid the Christiana Mall at ALL costs. I hate the stupid traffic flow, but I was there a few months ago on a Saturday night. Now maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but I didn’t notice bad behavior. It was an uneventful, if expensive, experience.
OK BUT WHY DID THIS HAVE TO GET TO RACE???THIS IS PROMOTING RACISIM…AND WHOEVER WROTE THIS SHOULD BE ASHAMED!!!YOU LIKE WHO YOU LIKE AND NO ONE CAN’T STOP YOU…BUT YOU KNOW WHAT MANY OF THE PEOPLE OUT HERE THAT ARE SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT THIS WHOLE THING BEING BLACK DON’T KNOW WHAT THEIR TALKING ABOUT…IT’S ABOUT YOUNG ASS KIDS THINKING THEIR GROWN AND THEY KNOW IT ALL!!!IT DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE COLOR OF ANY KIDS SKIN IT’S THE AGE!!!THEY ARE SITTING AROUND ACTING RUDE, HAVING BABIES, AND FUCKING ALL CRAZY. BUT THESE LIL WHORES AND HOODLUMS CAN’T SHUT THE HELL UP AND MAINTAIN THEIR COMPOSURE WHILE THEY ARE IN SCHOOL, CHURCH, STORES AND MALLS!!!I’M 22 AND EVERYWHERE I GO I SEE THESE GROWN BEHIND KIDS CURSING AND WHAT NOT…IT’S NOT FAIR EITHER WAY! EVEN THOUGH I THINK THEY WENT ABOUT IT THE WRONG WAY I ALSO THINK PARENTS NEED TO TALK TO THEIR CHILDREN!
Friday night is the worst. Trust me. I’m guessing they extended the ban to both nights to keep kids from switching to Saturday night.
I wouldn’t lie, P, and I’m not one to exaggerate. Honestly. It’s really bad there on Friday nights. You wouldn’t want to take your kids.
Dom –
True, it’s not the mall’s responsibility, I agree. HOWEVER, your arguments read like they are all just going to go home and la-dee-da, nothing will happen. Riiiiiggghhhhtttt.
I think they should ban adults, too. There was a robbery a couple of years ago by adults and an off-duty cop tried to apprehend them and gunfire ensued. Oh, snap! Ban the off-duty cops, too!
BTW…
As for the cops, they are paid by the mall, I believe
Absolutely correct. I don’t know if the police are paid directly by the mall, or paid normally and the mall pays a reimbursement. Either way, the expense is the malls.
See, Geek? I told you someone would call you out some day. Totally missed the satire and the disclaimer (Note: this isn’t true.). Related, can you disable caps-lock??? sheesh!
Next, the lawsuit, because you told them it was OK.
Rahsheedah –
Please unlock your caps.
Sincerely,
The Rest of Us
I don’t think you’re lying, Dom. I do believe there is a problem. I just don’t like the way the mall is handling it. Actually, I don’t believe this new rule will handle the problem.
I just might have to drive over to the mall to watch how they enforce this new rule. Should be interesting.
Rahsheedah C.
This post ask the question, how would people react if the mall selected customers based on race rather than age?
I think we all know that such a policy would be an outrage – and yet 75% of people who responded to the News Journal poll on this topic said that an age based policy is okay.
Rahsheedah C,
you need to stop by more frequently to get our jaded sense of humor my man.
But I will admit, if geek had put Indians in there instead of blacks, I bet we would have gotten way more reader traffic from it…
damn you geek! it’s always the blacks with you. You know they don’t have computers. Next time use the Indians or the Chinese
Personally I am waiting for folks to ban white people from public places since they are the ones constantly bitching and moaning.
It seems to me that the solution is for the people who care about this to just stop going to the mall on Friday evening. Why choose the hassle?
C – I think that’s exactly what they’ve done and the merchants are suffering for it.
Do they really expect a boon in sales on Friday and Saturday nights from this? They are fools if they do.
My expectation is that there might be the slightest of bumps, but moreso the realization that the sales will spread from the day hours primarily to a ditribution between the day and the night hours. Net gain: negligible.
This is nothing like shushing someone in a library.
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er, you brilliantly point out that a set of rules is not applicable across different situations.
No Duh.
A point can be made about a set of rules in context. Sort of like MI and FL. Wait! You didn’t get that either.
Never mind.
burn…
BTW…
As for the cops, they are paid by the mall, I believe
*’
Ruth Ann Minner gives the Christiana Mall the State Police during the Christmas season (maybe more often). That is one of the points of protest in the Buy Nothing court case. If the mall is private property, why are our tax dollars paying for some of the security and why can’t we freely wear a tee shirt that says Buy Nothing on it?
Nancy once again going off topic to take a shot at someone. Look at me! Look at me! Pleeeaase, someone, pay attention to me!!
if you tap them on the shoulder and ask them to quiet down and they don’t, you escort them out.
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You should take their name and address and if they come back in you arrest them for trespassing that night and/or for their disorderly conduct. The parents of the underaged get fined and the older ones get to go to court on their own steam. How can our society calm this generation down if they aren’t handled? They aren’t disciplined when it really counts – at home and at school. If they aren’t socialized by the time they are teens society is failing them all. That is the whole point.
Brushing all teens out of the mall for the sins of unsocialized kids is definately the easy way out and rather uncivil in itself.
D’Nique, you choose to ignore that it was a direct reference to your attack on me.
God bless you woman. Get a brain. Puhlease, this is too easy.
You called me insane because of my comment.
That would be comment # 37. D’OH.
Projecting much?
“….none of this would be a problem if we could have done what Lincoln wanted to do and gave them their own island to colonize….”
Lincoln wanted Goths to have their own island!!! Who knew???
I think we should still give (in today’s monetary equivalent (sp)) 40 acres and a mule to an education trust fund to every native born African American….no Jamicans, Nigerians, etc.
Oh, I forgot to mention…..the talking heads are blaming Mr. Rogers (‘you’re special’..not the ‘won’t you be my neighbor’ part) for the ‘misbehavior’….it seems a lot of the parents of today’s kids believed what Mr. Rogers said and applied it to their very special offspring…..couple that w/’babies having babies’ and you have a fine mess on your hands.
….teachers-do you find this true when you try to deal w/many of today’s parents?
bitch fight
bitch fight
bitch fighhhhthtttttttttt
Goth! Scary….geez I remember when the “folks” thought we “hippies” were scary and wanted to “do stuff about us”.
I refuse to go to Christiana Mall since they went after the “buy nothing people”. And I object to the Mall calling itself a private operation to sell crap, but use our tax dollars “public” money to protect them.
The problem is as some of us have been saying for years: THERE IS NOTHING FOR THESE KIDS TO DO! No place for them to meet up, socialize, and meet other teenagers.
Thats why the Hope Commission is so HOPELESS…they could do something really wonderful for the young, teenagers in a safe, appropriate environment. This is happening everywhere…my daughter lives in Boca Raton, and the rich kids there have nothing to do either…they hang out at the mall, and the “elderly want them removed”.
Lets not demonize the kids…lets put our thinking caps on and figure out a way to provide a safe, protected environment for them to meet and greet, socialize and dance, or whatever. Remember when a church here in Wilmington held dances on a friday night….they started with about 20 kids and within 2 months it went to about 75 kids. All the kids were frisked at the door, the church people supervised them. The kids had a great time, no problem whatsoever…so what does Faker Baker do….shut them down.
If that is not a clue to what the kids want…I don’t now what is. Instead of the Sewer Front…catering to old folks on buses, why not create some really fine entertainment complex to deal with young people.
There is also (or at least was) a dance place on Kirkwood Hwy. They kept growing and growing and had no problems…dont know if they are still around..they were about 2 years ago.
We need to use Chan. 22 to reach the kids. Have some dance contests, have schools challenging other schools, like an “american bandstand” concept. We have great kids who sing, dance, are into poetry and music and have no outlet to perform.
Its time to think outside the box on this issue and not stand behind the “arch capitalists owners at Christiana Mall”, who want to be private when it benefits them, and public “when they want our police officers” policing their private areas. Let them hire their own security officers.
I hope someone challenges this on ‘constititonal grounds’, cuz I think civil rights maybe violated here. Singling out a group…huummm!
Hey what ever happened to that great security the mall had I can remember when 2 State troopers hauled some women away in handcuffs for carrying a sign on don’t buy Day’s I may have gotten their theme wrong but god whatever they were doing must have been a real threat
er, comment #25?
at any rate, the kids these days needed something society failed to deliever.
What, a swift kick in the ass?
pretty much 🙂 or better put, a swack across the tush when they are small.
To save the trouble, why doesn’t the mall install this nifty unit?
http://www.noloitering.ca/
That’ll keep em away.
omg this is so uncalled for. WTF is wrong with you people? GROW THE HELL UP. IT’S 2008 NOT 1950.
It’s as if everyone that bitches about teenagers going to this mall was never a teenager him/herself…and clearly doesn’t recall EVER wanting to hang out with friends or EVER being viewed by authority figures as too “different” or a “problem.” I totally agree with this article in that it is blatant discrimination – and if it were against a specific racial/age group other than teens there would be such a legal uproar it wouldn’t even be funny. I guarantee there will be a lawsuit related to this by the end of the year – who ever said discrimination was acceptable? I thought different groups fought for equal rights to quash this kind of BS?
But I guess since we’re all so much “older and wiser” we forget the fun of hanging out with friends in our younger days and just want to keep our kids locked in a room all day.
When I was a teen in the 80s, I wasn’t ALLOWED to hang out at the mall for hours. The family went on a Fri. or Sat. night, we went our separate ways and met up when it was time to go home but my sister, our friends and I BEHAVED ourselves there. We weren’t standing around swearing and shoving and gathering in large groups. My parents didn’t feel the need to have ‘entertainment’ provided for us, we stayed home, had friends over, went to their houses. Maybe we went for a slice of pizza at the local eatery, or went to McD’s for a shake but we got our food, ate and left shortly after. No food fights, no obnoxious behavior.
So don’t throw up ‘when we were teens’ because many of us weren’t making the mall our second home.
Well I guess my best friend wouldn’t be allowed in the parking lot of the mall; as he is Black, Goth, and Gay. I’m two/thirds of that, Gay isn’t on my agenda. I would be gay IF boys weren’t so hot.