The theme of coming to age "Kids in the mall".
It's stated that most teenager in America spend more time in the mall besides school and home. Now why is that? Is it because of single parents who are living paycheck to paycheck; or is it playing babysitter? Whatever the reasons may be the mall has a negative and positive effect on teenagers. This is where most adolescence has many experiences. Teenagers feel comfortable at the mall although there is adult supervision, there's nobody standing over their shoulders giving the specific orders. Teenagers often gather at the mall to meet up with friends and their mates. Parents are not always aware of what their children are doing at the mall. Nor are they aware of the activities their teen is involved in, or witnessing. These aspects cause teens to come into the adult world more quickly. The mall is a common experience for the majority of American youth; which seems to have an impact on children coming to age.
Parents often use the mall as a babysitter. This leaves no room for quality time. Imagine being a teen getting dropped off at the mall everyday. Then imagine not spending any quality time with your parents. Incidents like this cause teens to be closer to their peers and distant towards their parents. By constantly being around your peers, you teens soon might feel the need to seek advice. This advice could lead from sex to drugs. Now this being a teens peer, this individual knows just as much about the situation as the teen does. However since the parent is never around you accept the advice from your friend. This could have an affect on a teen; not knowing certain things leaving them curious. Children often experience a lot of firsts at the mall like stated in the book. Teens may .
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smoke their first cigarette, have their first kiss, or even lose their virginity in the back of a car in the mall parking lot. By the parent lack of attention and leaving the mall to baby sit their teens causes these things to happen; and the cause the parents to be unaware of these activities.