By Selwyn Duke

More and more shopping malls are banning teens from entrance after a certain time of day.  For instance, Tower City Mall in Cleveland has now established a curfew of 2:30 PM; it says that no one under 18 will be allowed in the mall after that hour unless accompanied by an adult.

The problem is that many rowdy youths — especially in crime-ridden, urban areas — will roam malls in packs, using vulgar language, fighting, running, showing off and being generally disruptive.  This drives business away, as decent people and families with children will feel threatened.  And these are the folks who spend the money, while the juvenile delinquents (who should be in military-style training camps) causing the problems buy little.

I’m sure that decent youngsters may be upset that they’re losing access because of the actions of others.  The only thing I will tell them is that this is one of the consequences of social decay; for instance, we’ve all lost great freedom due to various security measures that have been instituted during the last few decades.  And why?  Because of the actions of a minority of our population.  Anyway, kids, believe it or not, they’re probably doing you a favor with these curfews, as there are better things you can do with your time than wiling away hours at a mall.  I hate shopping myself and won’t be caught dead at a mall if I can help it.

But social decay is the issue.  We’re failing to civilize — and, yes, "civilize" is the word — children.  Man has to be civilized, otherwise he will be a barbarian.  Forget the Jean Jacques Rousseau nonsense (his notion that children would be angelic were it not for the meddling hands of adults); instead, read my recent piece on the beauty of punishment.

Oh, and don’t think I’m just placing the onus on "the younger generation"; as I’ve said before, we’re experiencing a steady but rapid decline.  Each succeeding generation has been more barbaric for quite some time; thus, my generation is also the problem, as well as a number that preceded it.  And as for the idea that the WWII folks were the "greatest generation," you might want to rethink that.  If the most significant thing a person can do in life is raise children, if success in that endeavor is the truest measure of a man, then they are found sorely wanting.  Remember, they raised the flower children of the sixties.  People such as the Clintons, for instance.

The greatest generation was the one that founded this nation.  It has been all downhill since then.