Ron Newman ([personal profile] ron_newman) wrote in [community profile] davis_square2008-08-22 07:40 am

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

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.

[identity profile] redcolumbine.livejournal.com 2008-08-22 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Your points 1 and 2 sum up my reaction to this policy (I hadn't considered number 3). I don't think it's fair to expect an usher to eject families with noisy kids, because then they'll likely be faced with two or more belligerent people, disrupt the movie even more, and give the over-12 loudmouths more to yatter about afterward while the rest of us are trying to watch the movie.

The underlying problem - that PEOPLE IN GENERAL often don't know how to conduct themselves in a movie theatre - is insoluble, and this is as good an experiment as any.