PURCHASING POWER OF TEENS PURCHASING POWER OF TEENS Spending by teens ages 13-18 totals almost $200 billion annually. Individually, teens spend nearly $7,800 a year. Where it comes from:

• Money from parents: $5,496

• Income (babysitting, jobs, etc.): $1,522

• Allowance: $727 Where it goes (top spending categories):

• Clothes

• Eating out

• Cars

• Movies

• Cellphones Source: Harrison Group Digg



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Facebook CHICAGO  A growing number of shopping malls are turning away teenagers during evening hours unless they're accompanied by adults. Restrictions at some malls apply every night, others on Fridays and Saturdays. Hours and ages vary. The rules are meant to reduce fighting and ensure that adults and families don't avoid malls where rowdy teenagers take over stores, corridors and food courts. The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., was the first U.S. mall to create an "escort policy" in 1996, says the International Council of Shopping Centers. The idea has caught on: 39 malls now have limits on teenagers. Fifteen implemented such policies in the past two years and dozens more are considering them. There are 1,104 enclosed malls in the USA. Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, Wis., hasn't worked out details yet, but it will implement an adult-escort policy this spring following recent disturbances involving teenagers. "We felt like strong and decisive action was necessary, and we're taking it," says Kirk Ballard, spokesman for General Growth Properties, owner of Mayfair and 209 other malls. Columbia Mall in Columbia, Mo., and Capital Mall in Jefferson City, Mo., began restricting teens in February. Saint Louis Galleria is considering doing the same. In November, a food-court dispute resulted in arrests of four adults and five juveniles. Malls with the policies say they reduce disruptive conduct and improve stores' profits: •Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Mich., has required visitors under 18 to be accompanied by an adult after 5 p.m. every day since 2004. Sales increased, and loitering and retail fraud have been cut in half, manager Cathy O'Malley says. "It really is a safety issue." •Metrocenter Mall in Jackson, Miss., requires customers younger than 17 to be with an adult Fridays and Saturdays starting at 3 p.m. Teenagers sometimes "get a little miffed," says marketing manager Sharee Lucius, but "it was really just out of control on the weekends." •In 1995, the Mall of America had more than 300 incidents such as fights, says spokeswoman Anna Lewicki Long. In the first year teens under 16 were required to be with an adult starting at 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, there were two. "It wasn't just adults being intimidated, it was teens," she says. The change didn't drive teens away: The number of stores catering to them has doubled to more than 75. •At Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, Ga., restrictions on teens started in 1997. The year before the policy, 1,600 teens 16 and younger were banned for inappropriate conduct, Ballard says. In the first full year of the policy, 12 were banned. O'Malley says educating teens and their parents is the key to avoiding controversy. Mall staff met with mayors, school boards and cultural groups and provided sensitivity training for security officers. Twenty malls considering similar policies have asked O'Malley for guidance. It works so well at her mall, she says, "We don't even have to check IDs anymore." Share this story: Digg del.icio.us Newsvine Reddit Facebook Enlarge AP file photo Then-14-year-old Cassie Agan sat outside the Mall of America in 1996 to protest when it became the first U.S. mall to set a curfew for teens shopping without adults. "I don't deserve not to come here," Cassie had said. At right, a Bloomington, Minn., police officer kept watch. Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.