Letters To The Editor
By Mackenzie Snyder
Stratford High School
The “Parental Escort Policy” (PEP) at the CT Post Mall is not a fair policy for the mall to implement. While CT Post Mall is a private business and does legally have the right to put such a law in effect, its target audience is the younger population. Implementing this policy prevents said audience from shopping and supporting the mall as it wants them to.
The teenage population is a difficult one due to the considerable amount of anger and violence that resides within it. The constant fighting and arguing that comes from teens is seen in a wide majority of places, not just the mall. Implementing a policy such as PEP is one way for the mall to prevent its customers from fighting but also to create a more comfortable environment for those shoppers who are not involved in the aggressive behavior.
What doesn’t help, is the crowding of the people and the encouragement of friends and others who may want a fight to continue. Once a fight breaks out, people tend to crowd around and want to watch, even occasionally jumping in to join. These acts cause the larger fights in the mall, which have ultimately resulted in both the temporary closing and the enacting of the policy. Although in all honesty, it is not that easy to prevent these happenings from occurring.
While the policy may decrease the risk and amount of fights, it doesn’t completely eliminate the risk of them happening. According to the policy, a person under the age of 17 needs to be accompanied by an adult who is 21 or older, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that a teen needs to be accompanied by a parent. If a minor has an older friend or maybe a cousin they happen to be close with and they are 21 or older, that person is allowed to accompany them which means that fights very well could still break out.
The policy also causes the CT Post Mall’s target audience to migrate from said mall to what most likely will be the Trumbull Mall. The Post Mall is now losing funds to a competitor as a result. In addition, while the policy may ensure some safety to the Post Mall, the violent crowd also counts as those who will migrate to the Trumbull Mall, therefore possibly resulting in an increase in violence there.
It is also important to recognize that just because it was some teenagers who decided to fight, it doesn’t seem right or in the mall’s best interest to punish all of them. As someone who is a minor myself, the CT Post Mall is the closest mall to where I live. My next best option would be to drive to Trumbull. On top of that, the CT Post Mall is where I go to see the majority of newly released movies that I watch. If I were to go see a movie and happened to be stopped by security, I would be asked to leave the mall which would be infuriating to have to endure. It is not right for everyone to be punished for the ignorant decisions of a smaller crowd of people.
