Jamestown Mall became the St. Louis area’s latest shopping center to announce a new policy targeting rowdy behavior by teenagers.
Anyone younger than 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at least 21 after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the mall announced Monday. The new policy is intended “to promote a comfortable and inviting shopping environment for all patrons” of the mall, general manager Tony Stephens said in a news release.
Those younger than 18 will be allowed at the mall’s movie theater but barred from other parts of the mall without an adult after 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The mall will begin enforcing the policy Friday.
Jamestown Mall, on Highway 67 in north St. Louis County, is the area’s third major shopping center to implement a “parental escort” policy since last fall, joining a nationwide crackdown on disruptive teens at retail centers.
In November, St. Louis Mills in Hazelwood began requiring that anyone younger than 17 be accompanied by a parent or guardian after 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The St. Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights began enforcing a similar policy last week after police were forced to break up two teen brawls there in March and November.