Somerville Theatre bans (young) kids from entering after 6 pm. Let's discuss it here

[ron_newman]

This week's Somerville News has an article about the Somerville Theatre's policy of banning children under 12 8* from entering the theatre after 6 pm, even if they are accompanied by adults.

Is the theatre's policy a service to its customers who want a peaceful movie experience, or is it unfair discrimination against families with young children?

I'm posting this because we can have a more civilized discussion here than on the Somerville News blog comments. Ian Judge, the theatre's manager, reads this community, so we may be able to provide useful feedback to him here.

* Edited 11:55 am to add: I have a serious factual issue with this article. It says the policy applies to children under 12, but the theatre's website and exterior signs say it's for children under 8. That's a significant difference -- maybe significant enough to change people's opinions.

Second edit, 3 pm: Ian Judge has clarified that the theatre's policy is to exclude children under 8, not 12, from entering after 6 pm. He had made an erroneous statement to the News reporter which very unfortunately made it into the published article. Also, here is Ian's response to the specific incident detailed in the News article.

Comments

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I don't have kids, but I was one of those rare, well-behaved kids once upon a time (my parents took me to shows that were definitely rated for people older than I was), so this seems a bit extreme to me. Esp. if they're banned even when they're there with a parent/other adult. Ban on under 6s or even under 8s after 6? Or a ban later in the evening (8pm)? Either of those would make more sense. So would monitoring the shows to quiet/kick out -anyone- being disruptive, regardless of age.

I know teenagers and younger children can be obnoxious in theaters, but not all of them are. And there've been plenty of shows I've been to where it's adults talking or otherwise being disruptive.

It does seem strange that the example in this article is of two teenagers - not under 12 - being kicked out, even though they were with an adult. I'm guessing there's more to this particular story than "perceived too young, thus booted."

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

but you admit you're not the norm. i wasn't either. i grew up watching john waters and david lynch movies which i'm sure were totally inappropriate for most kids my age.

and yeah, i've seen a lot of annoying adults too, but mostly it's little kids that their parents just don't want to leave home alone or bother to hire a sitter.