Many large groups of youths fighting at malls

[CathyA]

I might not have paid attention to the news about this happening in several different malls in different states, but it's happened in the city close to here. It used to be the best/nicest mall around. I haven't been there in years, just because I don't shop like I used to. But in the past year or 2, they've had trouble with large groups of black youths congregating there and causing problems.
This past week, there was another huge group of young blacks that cause a lot of trouble and fighting. Now they're thinking about rules about the age of kids who can come there without parents. The behaved people who were there were very upset.

My question is..........why does this seem to be a black youth thing? And where are the parents???

Several of the previously nice malls in this city have gotten bad, for this very reason.
Can I say this without being a racist.......I'm just commenting on the reality that's happening. Once too many blacks start showing up, the area turns bad. And yes, poverty is a big factor. But not all poor people behave like this.
I think people skirt around this issue and it never really gets honestly addressed. (by "people", I mean the community in which it happens).

[iris lilies]

Well, this will be interesting.:)

Our biggest, best known mall doesn't allow minors unaccompanied by parents. So, the days of dropping off teens at malls to shop and talk with their friends are over.

I remember decade(s) ago when the tourist mall here, Union Station, battled through the necessary rules about groups of youth. i think they were the first to face into it and of course got nothing but bad press and shaming for attempting to preserve their space for shoppers and non-thugs. Union Station is two blocks from public housing projects.

But overall, malls are losing business and are kinda crappy anyway.

[Tybee]

I googled "why the mall fights" and came up with one from last Christmas of a mall in Kentucky with a fight involving 2000 people! So it has been an ongoing problem, I guess.
When my kids were young, the kids that hung around the halls were called "mall rats"--it was a public gathering place, in an area with very cold winters and nowhere to gather. I don't remember my kids doing it much, but some kids did.
I always thought that middle school kids needed babysitters as much or more than any other age--so many folks working, so many kids on their own after school, and they are too old to sign up for after school programs.

[catherine]

I always thought that middle school kids needed babysitters as much or more than any other age--so many folks working, so many kids on their own after school, and they are too old to sign up for after school programs.

I agree...My two older boys were 13 and 15 when my third son got a part in a Lincoln Center play and my DH was off chaperoning DD who was shooting a movie in VA. I hired a part-time chaperone to take my son in to NYC, but I often had to take him myself, leaving the 13 and 15 y.o. kids alone. I remember going to AT&T on Broadway to get a pager, and they'd page me, and I'd run to a phone booth to call them, and they'd ask me if they could order a pizza. (Boy, let's NOT take cell phones for granted).

Anyway, they have since called those three months "The notorious fall of 1993" for reasons that I don't want to know. Maybe my having found a roach clip in the shag carpeting during that time sheds light on why. Thank God we survived that.

Middle school and young high school kids DEFINITELY need supervision.

[sweetana3]

When malls started attaching huge movie theaters, what did they think would happen? A lot or most of the kids who were dropped off probably were going to a movie (or that is what they said to their guardians).

It does not take many of these incidents for the adults to avoid the mall. Lafayette Sq. was a lovely mall full of terrific stores and anchors. Started getting a "dangerous" reputation years ago and now is a closed hulk. Washington Sq. was the largest mall we had and now is mostly closed and even the downtown Circle Center is having issues. They thought a big movie theater on the 3rd floor and entertainment businesses along with it could create vibe but mostly caused a lot of kids to congregate and cause problems.

[bae]

Malls in western Washington have become a bit dicey. Full of predators and roving gangs of troublemakers. I blame culture though, not any particular race.

[JaneV2.0]

Malls in western Washington have become a bit dicey. Full of predators and roving gangs of troublemakers. I blame culture though, not any particular race.

I read an article recently that asserted that malls in the Seattle area were thriving, mentioning Bellevue Square and University Village specifically. I haven't been to either recently, but both are well-managed and well-stocked with a good mix of stores and restaurants. I think the conjecture about movie theaters is sound--Lloyd Center Mall in Portland began a swift decline once they came in--so much so that Nordstrom pulled out. The malls in Seattle that are successful have wisely not included theaters.

[bae]

I read an article recently that asserted that malls in the Seattle area were thriving, mentioning Bellevue Square and University Village specifically.

Western Washington covers a large area :-) The high-end places in wealthy parts of Seattle seem lovely and calm. The malls up in Skagit County have shootings and robberies, and when my wife and I dropped by a mall in Snohomish a few years back, the security guards at the door offered to escort us to the store we were going to...

But even these malls seem to be "thriving", that is, they have lots of people at them, parking lots seem full.

I visited a couple of malls in Colorado Springs a few months ago, they were ghost towns.

[pinkytoe]

I blame culture
I've been thinking a lot about this topic and not just concerning particular races or venues. It seems that everywhere in this country there is a general downward spiral regarding how people behave. Lots more petty crime than I recall even five years ago - car break-ins, theft, vandalism, graffiti, etc. I too wonder who is raising these people to not have any morals or empathy. Malls are becoming obsolete anyway and should be re-purposed.

[iris lilies]

My favorite shopping mall (the Plaza Frontenac for anyone who knows St. Louis) has theaters inside the mall. In keeping with the snooty anchor stores in the mall, Neiman and Saks, the films are all art house films. It is a lovely, quiet, tasteful afmosphere. And now that I am retired, I go there in the mornng or early afternoons when all of the other blue haired white people go to films. We dont drive in the dark, doncha know. >8)

[JaneV2.0]

Western Washington covers a large area :-) The high-end places in wealthy parts of Seattle seem lovely and calm. The malls up in Skagit County have shootings and robberies, and when my wife and I dropped by a mall in Snohomish a few years back, the security guards at the door offered to escort us to the store we were going to...

But even these malls seem to be "thriving", that is, they have lots of people at them, parking lots seem full.

I visited a couple of malls in Colorado Springs a few months ago, they were ghost towns.

Good grief--was that Snohomish County, or the little antique-themed town? I can't imagine roving gangs in the latter...
Yes--In general, it's very calm around here on the Eastside, except for the exciting new phenomenon of porch creepers and mail theives...:doh:

[LDAHL]

Malls in western Washington have become a bit dicey. Full of predators and roving gangs of troublemakers. I blame culture though, not any particular race.

I suspect a fiendish plot by Amazon to turn brick and mortar retailers into post-apocalyptic wastelands.

[bae]

I suspect a fiendish plot by Amazon to turn brick and mortar retailers into post-apocalyptic wastelands.

I won't go into a mainland mall now without suitable weapons and a trauma kit.

[LDAHL]

I won't go into a mainland mall now without suitable weapons and a trauma kit.

Carry a fowling piece for Amazon drones, but don't look directly at them. I'm pretty sure Jeff Bezos has been working on a mind control ray.

[freshstart]

lol, LDAHL

we had a shooting in a very suburban mall with upscale stores. They have a minor policy and a curfew in effect. It was between two kids who had a fight. I wish our art house theater was in the mall, instead we have 18 screens showing crap

[sweetana3]

Iris Lilies, we have exactly the same type of high end mall here. The theater has "art" films and oddball little ones. Very well attended. Same types of expensive stores like Crate and Barrel, Saks, Pottery Barn, etc. Quiet oasis of calm and great for people watching.