Fairlane to require some to bring adult
April 28, 2004
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Tired of teenagers who intimidate other shoppers, a major mall in metro Detroit is clamping down with a curfew that aims to keep unruly kids out and eager consumers in.
Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, the second-largest mall in Michigan, plans to prohibit all patrons ages 17 and younger from entering its center after 5 p.m. daily unless they're accompanied by an adult 21 or older. The ban goes into effect June 1 and is part of a nationwide trend of curfews for kids at shopping malls.
Every weekend, young people come in droves to the Dearborn mall to hang out, a teenage ritual that bothers some business owners.
"It scares our customers away," said Kimberley Polo, manager of CoreysJewel Box. "People tell me, 'I don't come here because of the kids.' "
On Friday and Saturday nights at Fairlane, there are about 2,600 teenagers roaming through the mall at any given time, said the center's security director, Arnold Wicker. Most of them don't shop, and 25 to 300 of them are ejected each night for disturbing the peace, he said.
Many of the teens are African American, which adds a racial element to the situation. The mall, in predominantly white Dearborn, is less than a mile from mostly black Detroit. Race has been an issue in previous incidents at Fairlane, most recently in 2000, when the death of a black man -- at the hands of a black security guard -- sparked controversy and protests from black Detroiters. The man was with a group the guard suspected of shoplifting.
But, "it doesn't matter if they're white, black or polka-dot; 2,600 kids is an intimidating image,"saidWicker, who is black. It makes life "uncomfortable for a middle-age shopper."
Fairlane General Manager Catherine O'Malley, who is white, said their move has nothing to do with race and that the policy will be applied equally to all people.
The mall announced the plan Tuesday with signs in English, Arabic and Spanish. Under the Adult Supervision Policy, if security guards believe that patrons look underage, they can ask them to either leave or show an ID that proves they're 18 or older.
In recent years, the mall has turned into a "baby-sitting service," where parents drop off their kids and leave them unsupervised, saidO'Malley.
Across the United States, malls are adopting curfews to keep the peace, said Patrice Duker of the International Council of Shopping Centers.
The trend started at the gigantic Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., which established a policy in 1996 that requires youths younger than 16 to be accompanied by a parent or guardian age 21 or older after 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. The Fairlane policy is for every night.
In February 2003, the Oak Hollow Mall in Hyde Point, N.C., began requiring kids 13 and younger to be accompanied by a parent. In April 2003, the Carousel Center in Syracuse, N.Y., began requiring those younger than 18 to be accompanied by a parent on Friday and Saturday nights.
Officials at Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills and Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi said they are not considering curfews because their malls don't have as many underage and unsupervised kids. Fairlane's move brought a mixed reaction.
The Michigan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union said the new policy infringes on the rights of both children and parents. "We're generally opposed to curfews that treat all minors as if they're criminals," said Kary Moss, the executive director.
James Netter, a civil rights activist who once handled cases for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in western Wayne County, said that the underlying problem is that so many youths don't have recreational facilities to congregate in after school, and so end up going to malls.
"If they had recreational facilitiesthen they wouldn't need the malls," Netter said.
Polo and others who work in the mall welcome the change.
"They're so loud, it's unbelievable," she said.
Even some stores that sell mostly to teens approve.
"I'm glad they're doing it," said Cassandra Murphy, a saleswoman at Claire's, an accessories store. "There's a lot of shoplifting that goes on."
Murphy said sales will actually increase since other shoppers will feel more comfortable.
O'Malley, the mall's general manager, said research shows the same thing. According to mall studies, stores that cater to teenagers at other malls that enacted similar curfews saw an initial drop-off in sales.
But eventually, said O'Malley, "they have come back and been even more successful."
Teen girls often hit the Wet Seal store, looking for the latest trends in clothing and accessories. Manager Cherica Drake said she expects the new policy to slow business, but not for long.
"I think they'll probably get used to it and want to shop here anyway," Drake, 31, said. "They'll just bring their parents or older siblings." Nick Mansfield, an assistant manager at Fusion International Salon & Spa, also likes the new policy.
"I've had to break up so many fights in front of my store," he said. "I think it would help security."
Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at 248-351-2998 or warikoo at freepress.com. Staff writer Alexa Capeloto contributed to this report.