Our editorial today revisits a hot summer topic -- a proposal to ban those under 18 from a portion of the Shops at River Park after 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Mall management later put the proposal on hold indefinitely after an uproar from the community.
Now it's time for all parties to come to the table to discuss ways to make the mall family and teen friendly, without alienating groups whose needs aren't being met. The first forum is being held tomorrow night, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., in Fresno State's Satellite Student Union.
Curfew- we need to understand the ENTIRE problem and that is when kids are roaming the mall who will be in charge of the kids ? this is a lawsuit waiting to happen . what will happen if younger kids get harmed? Who will the parents go after. The mall is not a day care but it will be and that's wrong.
It is easy to say let's make a curfew for all minors. That isn't fair becuase they are punishing all young teenagers for somthing that a few teenagers did. River park is one of the few places young teens go to hangout. There aren't many places a teenager can go. If the curfew goes through where are they gonna go?
This whole situation brings up several issues that as a society need to be addressed.
One, parental responsibility to raise respectful, responsible citizens. It's the parents job to make sure their kids are not only in a safe environment, but that their kids aren't creating an unsafe environment.
Another, the thought process that unless we let kids 'hang out' in unsupervised places, they'll be emotionally destroyed or -- can I say it -- bored! How about engaging kids in productive activities, academic and atheletic, that allow our children to grow in healthy environments.
I haven't been to Riverpark on a Friday or Saturday in a long time, not because of the teenagers, but because of ALL the traffic. But I will say that I haven't been to Fashion Fair for ages because of the teen problem.
We can impose a curfew at Riverpark and that may be the answer for Riverpark, but the kids will find other places -- especially if parents continue to allow it -- to hang out and cause problems.