>>>This is about 2 miles from where I live. New mall, looks like many across the nation.
>>>
>>>http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/3287203/
>>>
>>>Yeah, malls are really a safe place for your 12-year old to be walking around alone.
>>
>>On the other hand they may learn to see and judge a problem and move away from it. In a place full of security guards and cctv.
>>
>>I see from the article they are proposing a curfew. Several towns in the UK are introducing this.
>>
>>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2461895/Cornish-town-of-Redruth-in-curfew-trial-to-combat-rowdy-youths-at-night.html
>
>Don't disagree there, but that is not "on the other hand" really. It's more of "in addition to." My point, if it wasn't clear enough before, is that the mall is not the nice safe haven for their kids that a lot of people would like to think it is.

Or at least _that_ mall isn't. I think if there were a rash of incidents like this in malls across the country, someone would notice and we'd be seeing a lot of media jumping on it.

Seems to me you're overgeneralizing based on the available data.

Tamar