Mall bans teens without parents on weekend nights

Lithonia’s Mall at Stonecrest soon will tell teenagers to stay away on weekend nights if they aren’t with Mom or Dad.

Beginning May 1, anyone under age 18 coming to the mall at night will have to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, mall officials said.

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The policy will apply on Fridays and Saturdays after 4 p.m., a time when youngsters typically roam the mall unaccompanied, mall spokesman Donald Bieler said.

“We want to promote family and safety and shopping in DeKalb,” Bieler said.

He said DeKalb commissioners Lee May and Connie Stokes worked with the mall to initiate the policy.

“With Dunwoody incorporating [as a city], DeKalb has lost a great deal of revenue,” he said. “That has made Stonecrest very important to the commissioners.”

Stonecrest will become at least the second mall in metro Atlanta to enact a parental-escort policy.

Arbor Place Mall in Douglas County adopted a similar policy in March 2007.