Letter To The Editor
By Riley Buyskes
Stratford High School
Malls all around America have been far from safe spaces for many years now, but in the current age the danger inside of malls has skyrocketed, probably caused by social media and the rise of fighting for fame and popularity online. Most of these instances of violence in the mall are caused by teenagers, as well as other illegal activity they partake in at the mall, like shoplifting. These actions put not only the kids themselves, but everyone in the mall in danger and makes the mall no longer a family friendly, fun place to be, and for these reasons I believe that the new policy at the Connecticut post mall is fair.
I personally go to the mall quite often as do most people in Stratford, and since I can remember it’s been a very popular spot for Connecticut citizens to come to. Now however people have to hesitate when coming to their decision of going to the mall or not, because now safety is a major factor. The actions of immature individuals in the mall has skyrocketed so much that this family friendly environment has now become a liability. This defeats the purpose of the mall being open at all, and without any proper precautions being used because of these violent instances I do not think the mall should be allowed to be open.
The measures that the Connecticut Post Mall is taking to stop these violent instances is far from overstepping, warnings have been given out to wrongdoers in this mall for years, countless times the mall has tried to come to a compromise for these teenagers, but no one followed regulations, and now it is completely justified using extreme measures like banning youth without parental supervision because these extremes are the only things that can get through to these people.
Honestly, whether it’s fair or not shouldn’t even matter, when it comes to safety in a public setting. Any measures should be taken to ensure that no danger is pushed upon those who are innocently trying to go about their days and utilize the mall for its actual use. Malls are not meant for goofing around, committing crimes and fighting, they are meant for shopping, and those who are not using the area properly should not be spared punishment simply because of fairness.
Employees in the mall are not there to fend off crime and violence, retail and food court workers’ jobs are not to break up fights and call security, they are simply there to tend the shops, but with the increasing violence in this mall it has become workers responsibilities, creating horrible work environments for them.
Even though this policy will affect me and my mall experiences, I still think that it is necessary because of the extremes other people my age have taken, and even though I am the same age, the fights and unsafety in the mall affects my experiences just as much as any other shopper, so I do not mind the effects the policy has on me. I have seen plenty of people from Stratford High and even people I know personally get into these unsafe situations in the mall and I believe it is for their best interest that someone stops them.
