I honestly don't think the theater banning under-12s from later shows is a big problem. It's a private business, and they're not being unreasonable. The article does briefly touch on a bigger problem, though, the relative lack of kids in West Somerville. In our immediate neighborhood, Wallace, Park, and Chandler streets, there are lots and lots of little kids < 5 years old which is great for us, but the number of older kids who might go to a movie, is much much smaller. There are a handful of elementary and middle-school aged kids, and only a few families with teens.

I'm pretty confident that this gap has to do with the Somerville schools. Whether it's a real problem, or one of perception, I see a number parents moving out of the city as their kids reach school age. Our kids' peers aren't quite there yet, but we've already witnessed several departures among them, at least one of which was directly attributable to anxiety over the schools. Again, I'm not sure whether it's a real problem with the schools, or simply a matter of perception, but I think that the Somerville schools play a role in making kids' movies and thus kids' presence at the theater, unprofitable for the Somerville Theater. After all, the article says that the Capitol in Arlington has no problem with G and PG rated movies...