October 8, 2006
Albany - - When the weekend hits, teenagers begin looking for fun. But parents, listen up. Managers at Albany's only movie theatre say they welcome the customers, but its not their job to be babysitters.
It's supposed to be a safe place for everyone to come and have a little fun. Every weekend parents drop their teenagers off here to catch a movie. Managers say, after their movie, some start causing trouble.
"Kids and families love to come and we definitely want them to be here but the problem occurs when a few of the parents will drop the kids off early in the day letting them watch the movie, and some of the parents are under the impression that the other parents are picking them up," says Wynnsong Manager Peter Evans.
Evans says the kids then start standing around the theatre. Managers here says sometimes parents drop their kids off here at the theatre but the kids never step foot inside the door, this then becomes more than a hang out spot, it becomes a spot for loitering.
"They will actually leave the parking lot and walk to walmart and im so afraid one of them is going to get hit by a car doing that," says Lt. Rebecca Williamson. She says sometimes security officers have to stay until wee hours in the morning because they don't want to leave until every teen is gone.
The theatre hired more officers to help deal with the large crowds. We stopped by the theatre this evening and saw some teens standing outside. We came back a few hours later, enough time for a movie to start and end....we saw some of the same teens hanging out.
"Sometimes it gets worse and we actually have to criminally trespass some of them because they start causing problems because they've been left here so long, their looking for something to do," Evans says.
They say their about to start enforcing the city's teenage curfew laws.
"We will start calling for a police officer to come and enforce the curfew laws which would mean that both the parent and the child will be subpoenaed for court," Williamson says.
Something they say can be avoided if....
"The parents to be more responsible for the kids, make sure they know what they're watching, when the movie starts, when it ends and come pick them up," Evans says.
Managers also say teens start jumping between movies after they've watched one. That disrupts the other paying customers enjoying a movie. The city's curfew says minors can't be out on Friday or Saturday nights without an adult from midnight until 6 am.
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