Types of Restrictions

• The Mall of America in Minneapolis, the nation's largest mall, is one of the first malls to set curfews for teens. It started its "parent escort policy" in 1996, requiring teens ages 15 and under to have an adult 21 years or older with them after 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Other malls have similar policies that require adult escorts. If young people are without an adult escort, security asks them for identification to prove their age. Under-aged teens must leave the mall and get a ride home; if they do not cooperate with security, the police are called to the scene.
  
  

Loitering

• According to Teenage Research Unlimited, 68 percent of teens spend time at the mall each week, spending an average of three hours per week at the mall. Maureen Bausch, Mall of America's Vice President of Business Development, said that teens hang out in large groups, and their loitering blocks customers trying to walk through the hallways. Baush estimates that before the curfew, around 10,000 teens under 16 came to the mall on Fridays and Saturdays. Since the curfew policy, teens have been replaced by new shoppers.
  
  

Bad Behavior

• One of the reasons malls give for teen curfews is their bad behavior. Mall of America spokeswoman Anna Long says that bad behavior by teens make weekend shopping an uncomfortable experience at the mall. Long cited such actions as spitting and arguing, and also just hanging out in great numbers. Campaign Against Violence, a group dedicated to youth-related issues, argues that teens are not responsible for most of the violence in malls. The group said that malls are one of the few safe places where teens can spend time in the community.
  
  

Increase Sales

• Ultimately, malls set teen curfews to increase sales and make more money. The policies are designed to stop the loitering and bad behavior that discourage shoppers from patronizing the malls. David Renninger, an executive at Jones Lang LaSalle, the biggest third-party manager of shopping centers in the U.S., says that some of his clients experienced double-digit growth since enacting curfew policies.