Feb. 03--Starting Friday, Chicago Ridge Mall will require anyone 17 years old or younger to have an adult escort on weekend evenings, following the example of other area malls that have implemented similar policies in hopes of preventing disruptive behavior by large groups of teens.
Chicago Ridge Mall's youth supervision policy, which will be in effect Friday and Saturday nights from 5 p.m. until the mall closes at 9 p.m., requires youths to be accompanied by an adult at least 21 years old.
Mall security stationed at entrances will hand out notices about the new policy and may ask shoppers to show proof of age. One adult can accompany up to six youths.
Kids and teens still are permitted to go to the AMC movie theater in the mall unaccompanied.
"We've seen an increase in unsupervised minors at the center," said Monica Kalicki, marketing director at southwest suburban Chicago Ridge Mall. Feedback from customers and tenants has suggested that they would feel more comfortable if there was a parent or guardian present, she said.
"This is a retail environment and everyone is welcome here," she said. "But ... we have to make sure the retail environment maintains a positive business environment for our tenants."
Kalicki said the policy has been in the works for several months and was not prompted by a disturbance in late December, when the mall was evacuated and closed early for the night after a fight broke out near the food court.
Ford City Mall on Chicago's Southwest Side announced last month that it would launch a youth supervision policy Feb. 13, requiring an escort for anyone under 17 from 6 to9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Ford City was the site of a melee in 2013 in which 19 teens were arrested.
North Riverside Park Mall in the western suburbs implemented a youth supervision policy in 2013.
About 80 U.S. malls have implemented policies that require children younger than a certain age to be accompanied by a guardian, according to Jesse Tron, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. The trade group has received feedback that sales increase as shoppers return to malls they have been avoiding because of issues with unaccompanied teens.
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