forums
Teens at the Mall
There's a story today in The N&O about teens hanging out at the mall. It's hardly anything new. I did it as a kid.
But it raises some interesting points. Malls do lure young kids (or at least their moms) to the mall with indoor playgrounds and events. But once the kids get older, it's a different story.
Did you hang out at the mall as a kid? And do you let your teens hang out there? Are there many alternatives around here for them?
Comments
Actually, my parents did not let us hang out at the mall, ever. Why yes, we DID hate them for it!! But we hung out at people's houses,and in jr high roller skating was a big deal. We simply were not allowed large chunks of unsupervised, unstructured time. While I feel like the mall is pretty safe, I dislike the whole "shopping as entertainment" mentality that I think is a yucky part of America, the endless consumerism that seems to start younger and younger...Trader Joe's has little kiddie shopping carts with flags on them that say, "Customer in training" truer words never written.