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I used to hang at the mall with my friends, but I was about 16. Yes, we were probably annoying. I think most teenagers go through that
So yes, I will allow my son to hang at the mall with his friends.....get something to eat, talk to each other, probably look at other high school girls.
But I won't do it until he was 16. If I had a daughter, same thing.
NO I don't drop off my kids at the mall. I have worked at the mall in several different stores. The kids that came in (without parents) were generally a pain in the behind. My 15 yr old knows better I think...but still. I am a mean mother. I don't want her to have any friends. All her "friends" are doing such and so. One of her friends in particular has asked her to go do somethings in town, basically hanging out. The girl's father is a deputy sherriff. When I told mine that I would call KK's dad and speak with him about it and what they would be doing...it was mysteriously dropped. I don't know what the real plan was but I am betting they had hatched something up that wasn't on the up and up. Thank GOD for living in a small town.
I have 5 children ranging in age from 23 to 8. My children were never allowed to go to the mall by themselves that young. I have been there and seen parents drop their kids off at the entrance and leave and then the kids leave the mall and go off somewhere. Earlier this year my 8th grader wanted to go to the movies with his friends so I took him over and waited for his friends to show up, while I was there I watched a little girl and 2 boys walk off behind the movie theater to do God only knows what. The theater was full of loud teenagers that were acting really bad and after that day I told him if he wanted to go to the movies I would take him and sit somewhere else in the theater. Some parents are so irresponsible these days and treat the movie theater and malls like babysitters. So for us no mall or movies unless supervised by an adult. My 11 yr old is always getting invited to go to the movies without parents.
When I grew up, there were no malls---only "downtown". Where I lived, downtown was a two-block long strip of storefronts. When I was about 13, I was a stamp collector, and a friend and I rode the Greyhound Bus to a bigger town, 30 miles away, which had a stamp shop. We saved up our allowance for a few weeks, and had about a dollar each plus bus fare, which might have been 50 cents round trip. Our mothers had known each other for decades, and neither of them thought it was an odd thing for kids to do. We did that several times. I'm not even sure we always told out mothers when we were going, although I guess we did the first time.
Bottom line is, then or now, if a kid wants to stay out of trouble, he can stay out of trouble. If he wants to get in trouble, he can get in trouble, no matter where or when.
I used to be dropped off at the mall probably from 12 or 13 on!
I remember when I was 15, my friend and I met a group of boys our age. One of them said "hey, do you want to come outside and see my new car?" Stupidly, we went. Nothing happened, thank God, but looking back... wow! That was really dumb. We were good kids, by the way, and rarely did anything wrong... we just had no common sense!
I would say 15-16 is the youngest age I'd consider dropping kids off to walk around the mall. As a parent, I know that "hanging out" at a mall is pointless, but I remember it being very important as a teen. *sigh*
My parents and my friends' parents used to drop us off at the mall all the time on the weekends. I think this started at around age 12. We could be fairly obnoxious, giggling way to loud, spraying perfume on each other. But generally we were good kids. By age 14 it was expected we would read the city bus schedule and get ourselves home that way.
I used to drop DD off at the mall - I'm thinking she was at least 14. She and a girlfriend. As mentioned by pp's - they were probably obnoxious in laughing etc but they were good kids and just wanted to be somewhere besides the house and "hang out". They never got into trouble - the worst they ever did was get a kick out of repositioning the mannequins if no one was looking. To this day they will laugh until they almost cry just recalling that. So I would say it depends on the kid, the friends and the mall. Have to make your call based on your own knowledge of those things. Just one more parenting decision that is not one-size fits all.
well i am 13 and i only went to the mall once with my friends and my mom didnt know we where alone then we went again and i told her my freinds mom was staying so when her mom drove away i was worried and called my mom to pick me up and because i was honest she was going to take me to the movies but the problem is i think you need to be at least 13 to go to the movies and have to be in a group of 3+ also if you tought your kids right let them use what they learned plus my mom dosent think i know what to do if i went to the mall with my friends and someone did or said something we would kick their butt my girlfriends are tough and they can beat the sh*t out of someone so we dont need our parents to guard us i am stronger than them i love them to death but i dont need them their all the time so talk to your kids and listen they might have a point just dont let the streight F and bad kids go teach THEM a lesson that you are the boss and they have to listen to you
I was wondering how many parents drop their kids off at the mall. My daughter's 12 and 13 year old friends are dropped off to "hang out". The parents either leave the mall or go to the food court for awhile to wait. I am not comfortable doing this and feel like an overprotective parent, but I know that there are scary people lurking around these places. Plus, many of the kids that I see there are loud and obnoxious when there is no parent present. Thanks!
When my son has something he wants to shop for I allow him to shop with a friend (he is 15) or his brother who is almost 13. I usually stay at the mall and do my own shopping, meeting up with the kids in around an hour. I don't think the mall is a great place to "hang out". If they want to "hang out" they can do that at home, or the homes of their friends.
I think they are old enough to shop for an hour (I extend if they call me and tell me they aren't finished). I usually treat the kids to a snack afterwards.
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