Any thoughts on the curfew being announced today for Sandhills, to wit:
Teens 16 and younger soon will not be allowed at Village at Sandhill after 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights unless they have parents or guardians with them.
The new policy, drafted by shopping center management with help from Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, is being announced today and is scheduled to take effect Sept. 5, Richland County Councilwoman Val Hutchinson said Thursday…
My thoughts? Well, they’re pretty straightforward. Unless I hear something I haven’t heard yet that makes this case a special exception, I’m for it. I’ve got this thing, you know, about grownups being in charge.
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Have you ventured out to Sandhills yet, Brad? I think during the proposed baseball stadium discussion a couple years you had said you had never been out there.
My wife and I frequently go to the movies at Sandhills on weekend nights. Coming out of the theatre at 10 or 11 is always an “interesting” experience. The number of kids who congregate in the area is large but not scary.
My issue with the curfew is that it brings up a couple questions:
1) Are the police going to be checking kids who they THINK are under 17? What if the kid doesn’t have proof? Then what?
2) So now my 15 year old son can’t go to the movies with my 17 year old daughter who drives him there on a Friday night? Why?
Define “guardian”. And how close must the guardian be to the 16 years old? In the Sandhills area, beside him, within sight?
3) Where do you suppose these kids will go if they can’t congregate at a mall/movie theatre? This just shifts the troublemakers into other areas.
What’s the issue they are trying to resolve? Why not deal directly with that issue rather than coming up with rules like this? My observation on Friday nights tells me there is a certain group of kids that they want to deal with but can’t do so directly.
Too many rules. Too many rules.
Have there been problems at Sandhills? I’m with Doug on this one, why so many rules?
I think this policy could have been crafted a little more intelligently.
For example, a 16 year-old should be allowed to go to a 9:30 movie if he/she actually buys a movie ticket, actually watches the movie, has a driver’s license, and has the means to drive himself/herself home after the movie.
Kids who know how to handle themselves get unfairly penalized with stuff like this, and they chafe at it, because the perceive it (accurately) as unfair.
Sometimes, with a little thought and creativity, you can create a rule or a policy that more directly targets the unwanted behavior, instead of targeting an entire group of people based on age, and you can still get the results you want.