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

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

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...

[jadelennox]

Or possibly, it's the hostile environment for families with older children made by businesses who don't like children and the patrons who support those business models?

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

No, at least among our friends, that doesn't seem to have been a concern, while there is a lot of angst around school. I also don't think that businesses' attitudes toward kids have much effect at the critical time when families are leaving the city, i.e. when the kids are 4, 5, or 6; they're still too small to go out on their own at that point.

Honestly, Davis Square is much more kid friendly than the suburbs. Once they're old enough (say 7+ depending on the kid) they can walk or bike themselves to all sorts of fun things like daytime or evening movies, their friends' houses, parks (but not a skate park unfortunately), ice cream, comics store, whatever. On the other hand, in the suburbs you're essentially dependent on your parents for transportation to the good stuff until you or your friends learn to drive. As long as it's safe, the city is much more fun for kids (the country might not be too bad either, but the suburbs seem to me to be the worst of both without the advantages of either).

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

The Capitol in Arlington also has explicitly baby-friendly matinees.

I think you're totally right that it's a matter of demographics. (And I've seen the same phenomenon about people moving out when their kids turn five.) The Somerville and the Capitol are under the same management, so I can't see this as "the owner hates kids" or whatever -- the theaters just have different policies to serve their local communities. And if I want a baby-friendly movie for my kid, Arlington isn't exactly far away. Of course, we'll see how I feel in ten years when she's old enough to be independent and bored ;).