Should You Be Able to Shop Without an Adult?

Nearly 1,000 minors swarmed the Del Amo mall this past December. Wrecking property seemed to be their goal. A huge fight broke out. Law enforcement was called in, and the mall was temporarily closed. The brawl led Del Amo officials to issue the chaperone policy. So did previous cases of theft and violence.

Even shopping centers that have not had such extreme chaos have introduced bans. Store officials say the rules help curb troubling behavior, including vandalism.

“We strive to provide a safe shopping experience for every visitor,” Gene Satern, an official at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, said in a statement. That mall is the largest in Louisiana. It set a chaperone policy this past June. The policy bans unaccompanied minors after 4 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Supporters of the bans say shopping with an adult can help teens act more responsibly. Research shows that brains do not fully develop until adulthood. This means that teens can struggle with decision making. It can also lead them to engage in risky behavior without thinking through the consequences.

Plus, banning unsupervised teens is good for business, some store employees say. Rowdy teens can scare away other shoppers. “It kind of makes people feel like going back to online ordering.” That is what a male shopper in Torrance told a local TV station.

But critics say chaperone policies unfairly limit teens who follow the rules. “It’s almost a punishment for kids who are responsible,” says Suzanne Mohan. She is a mom of two teens in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Her family often shops at Garden State Plaza in Paramus. That is the second-largest mall in New Jersey. It began requiring chaperones last year.

Mohan has a seventh-grade daughter, Emilie. Emilie is not a fan of the policy either. She says parents or guardians should be the ones deciding whether their teens are responsible enough to shop on their own. “It’s unfair,” she explains. “If your adult doesn’t trust you, they probably wouldn’t let you go to the mall alone.”

In addition, Emilie and others point out that the policies could actually hurt stores by driving away young shoppers. There are about 27.7 million teens in the U.S. They make up a large consumer group. Teens on average spend about $2,260 per year. That is according to a survey by Piper Sandler, a financial services company. Mall stores facing competition from online retailers could benefit from those sales.

Besides, teens want to socialize with their friends, and malls are one of the few places where they can get a taste of independence, critics of the policies say. Amrita Kumar agrees. She is a 10th-grader from Demarest, New Jersey. “The first time you go to the mall on your own marks an important moment,” Amrita says. “You feel this sense of responsibility.”