>>>>>>>You've strayed off the path. This was about a girl - aged 13 going to the mall by herself. Going out in a group is a very different thing.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Why should "the mall" be so terrible. Usually (here) they have security wandering about and provide a more benign environment than some high streets.
>>>>>
>>>>>Well, around here, malls are where fights break out and stabbings etc. happen. Most often often outside the mall.
>>>>
>>>>And here we come to the crux of our differences over this. That's just not true around here. There's one downtown shopping mall that has a far amount of crime (it's built over a major commuter rail station, so has lots and lots of foot traffic), but the malls are pretty much all in the suburbs and all pretty safe, with shoplifting the most serious crime most of the time.
>>>>
>>>>Tamar
>>>
>>>Then it sounds like, going back over this whole conversation - especially to the original point that Jay was raising, that you're saying that parents should give their kids more freedom and let them be out on their own, because you live in a safe neighbourhood.
>>>
>>>I was trying to be more generic than that.
>>>
>>>Sorry. That sounds real sarcastic when I read it over. It wasn't really meant to be, but I don't think I can say it better.
>>
>>Well, I think there is no generic solution. I think parents have to evaluate their kids and their neighborhood, and make decisions. Lots of kids in the US (and, I assume, in Canada) live in safe neighborhoods. Many of those kids are responsible. We shouldn't unnecessarily restrict their lives because some kids are irresponsible or live in dangerous neighborhoods.
>>
>>BTW, the "here" I was referring to with respect to crime and malls was the US more generally. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but my impression is that, in general, in the US, malls are a suburban phenomenon and that they are not generally sites for gang activity. Are there exceptions? I'm sure there are, but I don't think malls are particularly dangerous places here, and it appears that you think they are.
>>
>>Tamar
>
>Then I think you have it better than we do. That surprises me.

I disagree to an extent. While not a primary place for gang activity, gang members do hang out in malls. That doesn't mean that is where they commit their crimes. It is more a location for child molesters to hang out and that is my primary concern. While gang membership and gang activity is rampant here, the mall is not a site where it typically occurs.

I recently moved from a neighborhood that was considered very desirable for its location and safety. It is less than a mile from where I am now. While I was there, a neighborhood boy had a party one weekend (unbeknownst to his parents) and his friends invited their friends and their friends invited others and so it goes. Two rival gangs (none were invited of course, they just learned of the party by word-of-mouth) showed up and shooting began. It can happen any where and it does. It doesn't matter how safe a neighborhood is. That is rather unusual though - gang activity typically occurs in specific areas, but gang membership exists in just about every school from middle school on up.