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

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

As you'll see in a comment by the owner of the theater, these kids who were the main complainants focus, weren't legally within their rights regarding the ratings system.

And this policy has been in place for 18 months, why is it all of a sudden news?

[jadelennox]

Clearly the children in the article were out of line. Equally clearly the children in the article are the reason the policy has been made of furor of. The reason I didn't know about the policy for the last 18 months is that nobody has made said furor any earlier, and I don't have children myself.

That being said, now that I know about it? I completely disapprove -- not of the events described in the paper, in which it seems like the theater was completely within its rights, but of the policy itself. I find it discriminatory.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Argument:
1. Our patrons want to watch movies in peace.
--Totally! I'm all in favor of throwing out/keeping out disruptive patrons.
2. Because of the demographics of the area we serve, this branch of our theatre doesn't really profit from catering to children, which make up about 5% of our audience.
--OK. No problem with these statements of fact.

Solutions that make sense:
1: We don't show anything kids/families would typically want to see after 6pm. (The other branch of the theatre, which has a larger child/family audience, does.)
--Sure, makes sense.
2: We prevent obnoxious teenagers from sneaking into the theatre illegally, as described in the article that started this discussion.
--Great! I approve.

Solutions that don't make sense:
1. Put a blanket ban on all kids.
--Why is this necessary if you hardly get any kids anyway, and you're already working hard to keep out the ones who try to sneak in illegally? So suppose you've got a mature, well-behaved young Batman fan who wants to see the 6:30 showing of The Dark Knight (rated PG-13) with her teenaged sibling and parents who just got home from work. What's wrong with that? Is their money somehow inferior to everyone else's?

(Counterargument: Nobody has noticed this ban before now, so it obviously can't be affecting very many people.)
(Answer: Well, yeah. That suggests that the other things they're doing to discourage kids from attending must be working pretty well.)

Alternatives to outright-banning kids:
1. Require that all kids attending shows the Somerville Theatre after 6pm be accompanied by a parent or guardian no matter what the movie rating.
2. Don't offer child discount tickets after 6pm.
3. Throw people out if they are making a disturbance. Put up a large sign to this effect. Enforce it.

(Counterargument: Those bitchy entitled moms will put up a fight if you try to throw their families out.)
(Answer: Right, because gangs of 16-year-olds on their cell phones, drunken college students, and elderly deaf folks who talk too loud -- to throw in a few more age-related stereotypes here -- always leave quietly and meekly when you try to throw THEM out of the theatre. But I guess their money just smells better...?)

[ron_newman]

Just for the record, the Somerville Theatre doesn't offer child discount tickets at all, at any time of day.

FEI's other theatre, the Capitol in Arlington, has $5 child tickets before 6 pm; after that, kids pay full price.

(Somerville Theatre ticket prices; Capitol Theatre ticket prices)

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I knew that, actually (the "don't offer child discount tickets" bit was meant to be theoretical) -- but it's worth pointing out anyway, so thank you.