Stonebriar Mall Restriction on Teens. Is there some event on Saturday or something?
Posted by KawaiiDere@reddit | plano | View on Reddit | 129 comments
Seems really weird and dystopian to require teens be accompanied by an adult to go to the mall. Am I missing some context or something? This seems like it just encourages the youth to stay inside all the time. I wouldn't be worried about it if there were edges only for adults (alcohol, sexual content, visual gore, hazards, etc etc), but it seems like it's still just a normal mall. Is it a liability management technique or something?
Real_ilinnuc@reddit
What’s “weird and dystopian” is a generation of parents using tablets and iPhones to raise their children. It’s led to rules like this because these kids have no respect for others, authority, or just basic manners. Blame the parents.
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
It's unrealistic to expect parents to spend all of the time necessary with their kids to develop properly (some time makes sense, but kids need more than just hanging out with their parents). Not having anywhere to go motivates people to spend more time online. (I grew up with people talking about how the 80s and 90s kids went outside more. The stories I heard often included things like jumping off roofs, fire, and halloween pranks.)
Like, I get management doesn't want to deal with it, but it falls into the "removing the public from public spaces" thing.
Real_ilinnuc@reddit
In the 80’s and 90’s, malls were opening and kids/teens flocked to them.
Now in 2026, malls are CLOSING to teens. Why is that? What do you think the reason is. It’s not “management doesn’t want to deal with it.”
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
So are they down to deal with the kids? Cause it sounds like you're saying they don't wanna deal with them, then you're claiming that's not what you're saying >_>
Real_ilinnuc@reddit
No lol. Not sure how this is not clicking for you.
I’m saying that in the 80’s and 90’s (the time period YOU mentioned) malls were just opening up. Teens FLOCKED to them and malls were massive for their social lives. Didn’t seem to be a problem.
Now, in 2026, malls are closing to teens and they’re banned without an adult for certain days. This is because teens fight, destroy property, steal etc at higher rates. It’s not because management doesnt want to deal with them, it’s because teenagers bring hazard and chaos MORE than before (mostly)due to shit parenting.
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
They did that in the 80s too though lol.
Real_ilinnuc@reddit
Did they? Didn’t know you were 50+ years old. If you are, then why are you so confused today? This isn’t “dystopian” because they did it 40 years ago.
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
Do you not study history or have parents that tell you stories?
Real_ilinnuc@reddit
I do. My parents were never banned from their malls.
Once again, why are you acting so confused if you know this information already? Are you dense?
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
I mean like hearing about them getting up to trouble. ("We drank from the hose" and "we went out until the streetlights came on" kinda stuff.)
The individual should be banned, but the age range is too far. Kids also grow out of their age category really fast, so those who have to deal with these types of bans are unlikely to have participated in causing them. I don't have an issue with it if it's just liability management though (like those "no loitering" or "toilet customer only" signs).
lunatuna32@reddit
kid's will not grow out of a category fast lmao, an teen without proper guidance and support will always stay the same and never learn at all. Teens are in the most vulnerable or in the most critical phase they can be easily influenced by anything bad friends, social media, clout, fame, peer pressure and etc. Look at how kids are behaving now to kids 20-30 years ago, one big change and its pretty depressing and horrifying to see is thier addiction to social media and short form content, thus training their brains or molding their brains to have short attention spans leading an disinterest to learning anything valuable.
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
The child categories are much smaller than the categories for adults. A 14-17 is only that for at most 3 years from the point the insite anything. 3 years as an adult has a lot less impact on how they are categorized.
Even for 7 years (with bias towards older teens causing more havock), people age out of that category faster than categories like "young adult" or "middle age."
I'm not saying that the individuals will improve so much so quickly, but I am saying that an age based ban will probably not affect the offending parties as much as it impacts unaffiliated third parties.
Real_ilinnuc@reddit
Do you think they’ve never asked a teen to stop messing around? Or never kicked one out? Why do you think they did a blanket ban like this. MAYBE because all other attempts failed and it’s messing with the bottom line.
ladyorion2021@reddit
80's kid has entered the room.😁 It is true that we were latchkey kids and thus "hung out" more, but... the majority of us weren't dumb enough to jump off a roof or set fire to a building. Teens that did so were usially attention seeking. They wanted to stand out and become "popular", rebel against their parents or were just plain high on drugs.
ExhaustedMuse@reddit
The space was open to kids until they unfortunately lost that privilege. I agree young people desperately need third spaces but if they are causing harm they lose that access.
The fix is really big and would require major societal change because the kids en masse are really, really not alright.
lunatuna32@reddit
How is it unrealistic? Its an parents job to spend time with your kid so they can have the necessary skills set to advance through life, what is unrealistic is parents doing the bare minimum and giving them an I pad or screen to keep them occupied rather than spending time and teaching kids valuable life skills or just skills in general. It's unrealistic that kids these days lack basic situational awareness and common sense, manners and respect. As the previous comment said blame the parent and their obsession/ overconsumption of social media and a social media fame
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
It's realistic for parents to spend a good amount of time with their kids, but not the entirety of a child's social time outside of school. Children need a lot of time to develop social capabilities, and parents only have so many hours in a day (plus, work and social obligations unsuitable for kids). Do you always have energy after work to drive someone else to hangout?
The majority of kids don't make much trouble, it's normal for there to be a few outside the norm. If everyone needs to meet the social standard for public space to be available, that bar will never be passed.
luvsads@reddit
There is nothing wrong with using screens when raising your kid. It's inattentive and absent parenting that is the issue. Kids using a tablet to draw or read doesn't turn them into a shit head.
ablx@reddit
Hahahah the gifted program hahah
onokylo@reddit
Haha I see you fellow gifted program survivor.
ladyorion2021@reddit
So glad I wasn't in the gifted program as a kid. I heard about and read the horror stories. Did you know that some of the activities you guys did was designed by and used for the CIA? There are documentaries (and likely open records by now) of how the CIA (and other government entities) basically used kids within these programs as guinea pigs for their experiments.
luvsads@reddit
I was in the program when I was a kid, albeit not in Texas. I definitely don't feel like a "survivor" and do well for myself as an adult thanks partly to the extra academic challenge it introduced.
Not all experiences are as bad as yours.
onokylo@reddit
So was I, also not in Texas. I’m a pretty well adjusted adult and do really well for myself too.
I also have trauma because I was “gifted” and not “living up to expectations” because I had severe undiagnosed ADHD that runs rampant in gifted programs.
KellyAnn3106@reddit
Are you me?
luvsads@reddit
I'm sorry you suffered from that, and I'm very familiar with how frequent it is. I was diagnosed with ADHD before I entered the program, and was almost barred from it due to the diagnosis. A major focus of mine with my kids is to prevent similar treatment to what you and I both experienced.
The good news is that it is much different now that ADHD is a little better studied and more well-known. The stigma around having ADHD is mostly gone, and faculty in our ISD were not as quick to say, "this child is underperforming, must not cut it." My kid was diagnosed around the same time as me after teachers spoke with us about attention, etc. issues, and their first approach was to figure out if my kid had a learning and/or attention disability as opposed to just signing my kid off as helpless or underperforming.
I'm sure it's not that way everywhere, but it seems to be trending in that direction.
luvsads@reddit
Yes, GATE.
Real_ilinnuc@reddit
So you actually completely misunderstood what I said. I said “using screens TO raise their kids”
Not “WHEN raising your kid”. I grew up with a family computer but my parents actually gave a shit and didn’t use it fill time instead of interacting. Enjoy the downvotes tho.
luvsads@reddit
Using screens TO raise your kids instead of traditional mediums (paper) is not a problem.
You're arguing semantics, and misunderstanding that my comment was building upon yours and clarifying for the large number of parents who think that any amount of screen time is bad.
Gloating about downvotes speaks volumes about your character, too.
RandleMcMurphy1962@reddit
And yet your downvotes keep coming. Speaks volumes too, yes?
luvsads@reddit
Yeah, about hivemind/reddit psychology lmao
RandleMcMurphy1962@reddit
Right. You keep telling you that.
luvsads@reddit
Will do. Thanks for contributing to the conversation
Real_ilinnuc@reddit
You weren’t building upon my comment because my comment never talked about using screens in that manner. I’m not arguing semantics because they’re completely different.
The fact that you got so heavily downvoted should make you realize that your statement didn’t land like you were supposed to. I say enjoy the downvotes, a digital Reddit button with NO real world significance… and you attack my character? Your inability to follow a simple point makes me seriously doubt your “I was in the gifted program” claim. Maybe we can talk when you’re less emotional.
luvsads@reddit
Arguing what "to" vs "when" mean, how they should be interpreted in this context, and what you actually meant by "parenting" is the definition of semantics
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semantics
Telling me what the intent of my own comment was is absurd. I hope I don't have to explain that.
Reddit downvotes don't mean anything. If you place value in them, that's your own issue.
JakeDahPirate@reddit
“To” and “when” ain’t the same buddy. “To”parent is all encompassing. “When” parenting means it’s part of the total equation.
If you got a nanny to parent your kid, that means it’s their duty to do it. If you got a nanny when parenting, that means they help YOU parent. Goofy.
luvsads@reddit
Clearly you missed "in this context". Goofy.
Aliecat78@reddit
I think you are missing the point... it's using electronics as a parenting/babysitting device instead of actually spending time with them or teaching them correct social skills and consequences for their actions
luvsads@reddit
I am understanding the point, and you're repeating what I said in my first response
Like I said, my comment was building upon/clarifying that screen time alone doesn't cause any problems. This is a very hot topic amongst parents these days, and there is a large sect that shames other parents for allowing any access to screens.
GiraffesOfTheOccult@reddit
You are wrong.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10353947/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2821940?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40172268/
https://netpsychology.org/screen-time-and-child-development/
The use of technology in classrooms has been studied as well.
https://www.oecd.org/education/students-computers-and-learning-9789264239555-en.htm
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797614524581
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X18300101
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00313831.2022.2109987
Gen Z suffering from all of this the most.
https://fortune.com/2026/02/21/laptops-tablets-schools-gen-z-less-cognitively-capable-parents-first-time-cellphone-bans-standardized-test-scores/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
luvsads@reddit
The NIH reports are poorly done, and anyone can publish to NIH without proper vetting.
You linked multiple "blue light bad" reports, which is crazy.
The reports on technology in the classroom all agree that so long as the child has basic literacy and numeric skills, integrating technology isn't an issue.
Feels like you didn't read/verify your own sources.
GiraffesOfTheOccult@reddit
NIH doesn’t publish papers, PubMed indexes peer-reviewed journals. Also, the research on screens isn’t about blue light—it’s about attention, displacement, and learning outcomes. And even OECD data shows excessive classroom tech use correlates with worse performance. If you disagree, point to a specific study.
Aliecat78@reddit
When you said using screens to raise kids instead of paper. That's learning vs parenting.
I'm not against kids using tech to learn. But also I know someone who's kid used AI or chapgpt for a whole French class presentation, but at the end of it couldn't tell you the French word for whatever the topic of her presentation was about.
So tech isn't all that either for the leaning aspect. Grow, yes. Advance, yes. But some of these kids are just using it to coast thru.
luvsads@reddit
I was using paper as one example of communications medium just like a screen is a medium of communication. I don't think I agree that the example is learning vs parenting. At least, not in the context of the argument of screen time. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you meant, though.
I agree that them using tech to coast is not good and counterproductive to learning. Personally, a kid relying solely on ChatGPT for homework is a direct result of inattentive and bad parenting.
It is kind of funny that while you and I can discuss the nuances of integrating technology into parenting and child development, another response is pushing the idea that use of technology is bad/wrong for multiple reasons. It's a great example of the parents and adults I mentioned earlier who claim we are wrong and that kids shouldn't have tech incorporated into their learning environments and process.
PickyYeeter@reddit
Yes, teenagers — historically known for not rebelling against authority. Until now.
ComprehensivePeak780@reddit
It also sucks that I can't even let my kids play outside without my neighbors reporting me to CPS and then calling the cops about Child Abandonment
cvsmith122@reddit
It’s a hangout for a bunch of hooligans at night so the mall said no parent no entrance ! I support this
arg777@reddit
actually statistically it’s what happens in right wing societies
cvsmith122@reddit
Yeah that’s not what I’ve seen growing up in the country
arg777@reddit
then open your eyes for once
Biofred@reddit
There doing this here in Houston with 2 Malls here Willowbrook Mall that is close to me am Memorial Mall there was an issue at Willowbrook that some sort of flash mob type of fight took place there this weekend I think will be either the 4th or 5th weekend where after 2 p.m. no under 18 aloud without a parent or guardian ne with them at All times.
Poininjas@reddit
Possibly an event that has some sort of alcohol tasting or vendors?
arg777@reddit
result of bad parenting
cetabunny@reddit
Have you seen the amount of trouble that kids are causing there? It’s abhorrent and out of control. Cops getting called every weekend because of these doorknobs. I think the curfew and restrictions are great. I don’t feel safe at Stonebriar
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
No. I went there today and all the kids I saw were doing worksheets or walking with their friends. I don't go there on weekends though.
I haven't been on Saturday lately though, so for all I know that could be the day for fighting. I didn't see any damage (unless someone sawed off the bathroom stalls or stole the directories) unless it's getting repaired very quickly or sectioned off.
JustJamieJam@reddit
Literally just look it up, it’s been constant lately
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
I only got hits for 11 weeks ago and 2018 when I did a web search
JustJamieJam@reddit
Go to TikTok, that’s where teens post. It’s all fights. I just looked it up and the first 8 videos were fights and a POSTER advertising a “teen takeover” encouraging drama and fighting.
Menelatency@reddit
So what you’re saying is that it’s working.
SMF67@reddit
I honestly haven't seen it, no.
orthodoxscouter@reddit
My question is why is it only on Saturdays?
ArmWarm8743@reddit
My question is, has the OP been living under a rock?
slapmenaked69@reddit
What kind of crap is this? That an 18 y/o can't shop alone after 3pm on Saturday.
luistorre5@reddit
iPad kids don't know how to act, so they are making the parents deal with them basically. This and Six Flags incorporating this leads me to think these parents just drop their kids off and let someone else deal with them. They're not being barred completely, just a curfew set in place
Beginning-Head-4006@reddit
Uh oh , not teen moms friendly
wickedx56@reddit
Kids were starting fights and since stonebriar is the only active enclosed mall left in Collin County since WB and CC kicked the dust. It diverted that crowd to that mall. Last time I went to Barnes and nobles and American eagle to grab some book and some shirts. There were some many teens out causing trouble it was unreal. Glad they are enforcing that.
wbd3434@reddit
The iPad kids are growing up.
BrilliantSpread3755@reddit
lol as is millennials and Gen X didn’t trash some malls along the way
SaphireComet@reddit
Sounds like word growing is getting stretched alot.
wbd3434@reddit
Ya let's say "aging."
McKMatt1970@reddit
Unattended teens have done hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the mall recently in the form of large fights and major disruptions.
CrisGa1e@reddit
Plus there have been some incidents where people have been attacked and even sexually assaulted. I think a curfew is unavoidable at this point.
CharlieTeller@reddit
I don’t wanna act like this is normal, but the same thing happened at my mall in Fort Worth growing up. They put curfews and would corral the kids outside the movie theater because of this same thing. And this was 20 years ago
your-pet-goldfish@reddit
I can attest. I saw a large mob of teenagers run across the mall to catch a fight the last time I went.
Purplemunch@reddit
Classic case of the few ruining it for the many. "Dystopian" is a strong word though, I'm sure there are thousands of shoppers who breathe a sigh of relief at this new policy.
Purplemunch@reddit
Classic case of the few ruining it for the many. "Distopian" is a strong word though, I'm sure there are thousands of shoppers who breathe a sigh of relief at this new policy.
megadethlover1983@reddit
i (age 20) went to the mall last saturday with my brother (age 15) after 3pm and thankfully the security didn’t seem strict and we weren’t hassled or asked for identification. maybe they are only keeping an eye on groups, which makes sense.
megadethlover1983@reddit
why am i being downvoted💀
megadethlover1983@reddit
why are yall downvoting me for giving insight💀
mazsive@reddit
I suspect they’ve had teens making allot of issues so they put restrictions maybe ?
3Time4Eater3@reddit
I would assume teens are the biggest reason malls are still up. And this would ultimately end in that mall loosing business.
PresidentialDiapers@reddit
Yeah I've seen studies that the vast percentage of teens either spend no money at all or a couple bucks at the food court.
3Time4Eater3@reddit
Well I guess I should have spoken on shit I don't know about lol
PresidentialDiapers@reddit
It's counterintuitive but makes sense. Malls are dying anyway, doubtful they'd kick out a vital revenue stream.
GoldenFrog14@reddit
For stonebriar, not really. Every time I go it's adults actually spending money and kids literally just...there. Like, it's their right, but I've pretty much never seen them in a store. They just crowd the hell out of the walk way
McKMatt1970@reddit
Disagree. Adults (with money to spend) were de facto boycotting the property due to an unsafe environment
3Time4Eater3@reddit
Ok right on
meatforsale@reddit
There’s a video of a big brawl in the middle of the mall recently. This is in response to that.
Slight-Toe2730@reddit
This is very sad because the teens that act like idiots force out all the ones who do. This is what happens when we infantilize under 18s, this is what we asked for folks. The older generation utterly failed Gen Z and younger. You treat them like kids don’t be surprised that they act like it. We’ve created a world where is too easy for people to grow up unusually slow.
RepulsiveInterview44@reddit
Bc dumbass kids have no home training and can’t act right.
Fit-Classic-9295@reddit
The last couple of weeks Frisco Pd has been called multiple times because of “take overs” that resulted in fights and destruction of property. Now school is out and since parenting is apparently a thing of the past, they had to put restrictions In place.
Crazy_Ad_91@reddit
I remember The Parks mall in Arlington enacting something similar like 15 years ago. Kids/teenagers left to their own devices really can wreak havoc. At the parks mall I think it was largely driven by turf disputes and I think there was even a major brawl in a parking garage. Once I finished Sears driving school I never went back.
downtime37@reddit
People still go to the mall?
SMF67@reddit
Yes, Stonebriar is pretty busy every time I go. Never seen any of the crazy behavior that people are talking about though.
United-Paper3947@reddit
When the rink closed the kids had nothing to do
Aliecat78@reddit
They werent going to the rink at the mall . That is probably why it closed.
United-Paper3947@reddit
Agreed.
Shad3sofcool@reddit
I haven’t felt safe at Stonebriar since 2018 when that kid got knocked unconscious and the other teens still continued to beat him and stomp on his head.
bradytk421@reddit
Dystopian?
KawaiiDere@reddit (OP)
Yeah. I always heard people talk about how kids don't free roam like in the 80s anymore, always spending their time inside or watching TV/playing video games. It seems dystopian that teens wouldn't be allowed at the mall on a Saturday. (At the start of my 9th grade year, my jr high implemented a policy to not let students go to the library or the toilet during study hall- apparently "because of fights," so that might also influence why I find it uncouth. I just wanted to read manga, pickup something to read since I had to bus over to XC 7th, and get homework done ahead of time😭.)
Also kinda falls into the "removing the public from public space" thing. Hostile architecture (such as removing benches that would be used by unhoused people, people with disabilities, and the elderly) is dystopian. Along the same kinda lines, removing young people from the public is dystopian. (The sanding off of edges "for the children" is also pissing me off. A few digital storefronts with adult art have removed it from their platform due to pressure from payment processors like Stripe. I'm okay with adult only spaces, but it's irritating to have an adult only child appropriate spaces where adult only content is banned. That is also fueling my frustration.)
foxinyourpocket@reddit
I used to work at Stonebriar back from 2023-2024 and I wish to death this rule was implemented back then. Packs of teenagers would always run through and destroy the store before close.
kimmykat42@reddit
Hell, I worked there sometime around 2010, and they were terrible even then. I worked at the body jewelry kiosk, and they were constantly teaming up to steal from me. One distracts you by asking about something on one side, and their friend would steal stuff from the other side. I caught on pretty quickly, but it was hard to do anything about it.
foxinyourpocket@reddit
It was awful. Most of our theft was also teenagers!
Leading-Tap-2033@reddit
Permanent Policy per their website
Visual_Scientist_298@reddit
Many malls have this now. Teens fighting and causing damage and stealing. Result of parents not parenting. Here we are.
redthump@reddit
It's a tale as old as time. Every older generation talks shit about how much less the younger Generations raise their kids completely forgetting that they latch-keyed their own. Kids just have phones and advertise the stupid ass shit we always did. I'm glad I grew up in a generation without that so nobody knows my past indiscretions.
Visual_Scientist_298@reddit
A GenX and spent hours and hours in the malls. We never had huge fights, pulled guns and shot people, trashed stores and food courts or stole. So this set of terms now are not even close to comparable to teens from generations past. Do not excuse them as “kids will be kids”.
hamlet_d@reddit
I'm genX and that shit absolutely did happen. The difference was it wasn't near Plano. Arlington, Garland, Mesquite had the lions share of "these problems" back then.
It just happens as suburbs get bigger and invariably less homogeneous
Visual_Scientist_298@reddit
Nah, fights surely happened. Some theft. The stuff happening now. The let’s do this cause we can be famous, nah. This is a huge parenting lapse that is then fueled by social media. Yall need to stop pretending kids are not completely out of control like never before.
redthump@reddit
Kids are as out of control as ever, they just have better tech and more incentive.
redthump@reddit
That's just because you didn't know it was going on at that exact moment. Things like this were also buried in the news because they could and not get scooped by some kid's video. The news didn't report a ton of shit that happened back then so there weren't copycats. That first suicide wave here comes to mind. A buddy in California told me who died before the papers here. If there was a fight after school that got around it was always well attended. Communication has improved and the social pressures of web cred has driven this to absurdity, but don't kid yourself into thinking you wouldn't have done it at their age if you had a cell.
onokylo@reddit
Because they’re losing businesses.
I heard from someone who used to work for Pottery Barn & William Sonoma that they pulled out of the mall because the unattended teenagers causing huge fights and a ton of damage every weekend.
hamlet_d@reddit
The "kids" aren't why they're losing business. Amazon and the likes are the reason.
Aliecat78@reddit
Kids were having fights. It's a new "curfew" for unaccompanied minors
Little_Brilliant_906@reddit
LOL no. Kids have become too much running around causing trouble and fights.
EqualIllustrious9633@reddit
City need to do a better job of filling the Jab and providing and promoting third spaces for people in this age group
jighlypuff03@reddit
Parks Mall in Arlington has this too
Responsible-Agent-19@reddit
Parks Mall has been absolute trash for 20 years.
Remarkable_Meat666@reddit
Blasphemy. When someone dies and you need an airbrushed tribute t-shirt ASAP, where else can you go but the Parks Mall?
korpo53@reddit
It’s because adults don’t want to go places where hundreds of unsupervised teenagers go to fight, throw things, yell, run around, etc. Since malls rely on the presence of people with money to survive, and teenagers notoriously don’t have (as much) money, this is a smart move.
I don’t think you know what the word dystopian means.
Paulsur@reddit
Malls are private property. The owners have a right to regulate people who come onto their property.
mechasquare@reddit
While everyone talks about kids being raise by ipads and what not. The same exact things were being said of gen x and milienals about TV and the internet. I'd honestly point to the leaders in charge of basically anything. All the media and news basically shows how there are no consequences for bad behavior. In a lot of instances being infamous is shown as being just as good as being famous from an 'influence' perspective.
If the adults in charge don't follow the rules why would any youth care?
callous13@reddit
Employee more security
Jericoholic_Ninja@reddit
Make sure you post this twice.
Lurcher99@reddit
Double the pleasure
FelixMumuHex@reddit
Zoomers don’t know how to behave because they were raised by iPads
thephotoman@reddit
America hates kids. Film at 11.
whoknowsknowone@reddit
It’s unbelievable
Grown adults scared of teenagers smh
markp_93@reddit
GOP in town
nazerall@reddit
Results of letting your kids be raised by Tik Tok.