Leaving your kid unattended at the arcade

morbidboy

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So we have a zoning law that states that children under the age of 16 can't be left unattended at a Place of Amusement without an adult over the age of 18, and only before/after school hours (7am-3pm). This also includes NO DROP OFFS! We have signs in the window (one for adults and one that's kids friendly) and four more in the arcade...

But in this day and age of Megan's Law, I'm always fetching parents from nearby neighborhood bars and then having a very uncomfortable conversation that not only I can get fined and lose our license, but that I have to call the police and make a report (oh yippie!).

I've had drunk weekend dads tell me off and tipsy moms yell at me saying that I totally f*ck'd up their girls night out. So far I've had to call the police twice, trying my best to keep the kids in the arcade (giving them free games and reinsuring them that they're not in trouble.)

I'm curious is any other arcade owners out there have had the same troubles with this subject?
 
No, you are the only arcade owner that ever had to deal with idiots.

LTG : )
 
I didn't have to deal with drunk parents too much when I worked at a bowling alley arcade. Though on league knights, parents would dump their kids in the arcade as though I was a babysitter or something. I kind of had to be, just to make sure that they didn't get into trouble or break anything or whatever. Some of the parents appreciated it but most didn't. Now that I have kids, I wouldn't just turn them loose while I was bowling.
 
In the mall here where my uncle's arcade is there was a bar literally next to the arcade. I remember these 2 kids would get dropped off by their mother with $5 each to last them like 2-3 hours while she played the machines. It was awful, and sad. I commend you for following through with your actions. You are not a babysitter.
 
Not an owner but I remember the practice being extraordinarily common in the arcade at the big mall I lived near growing up (Dimond Center in Anchorage, for the curious). Hell, I *was* that kid on a pretty regular basis :p
 
Hell I bet most of us was those kids or we wouldn't play with 30 year old out dated games. I got dropped off around 6 on Friday night with 10 bucks. The local aladdins castle had a guy that I would give 5 bucks cash of course and he would give me a 10 dollar role of tokens. Spent the rest of the night playing air hockey mostly and a few arcades hoping to get lucky by the end of the night. The last 5 went to luca's pizza oh the days. Never tore up nothing or acted like a punk. But wish 10 bucks could buy that kind of happiness again.
 
I think Minneapolis has stricter arcade laws than most places. It's been years but I distinctly remember the minimum age for pinball to be 18, at a time when the drinking age was 19. That was at a time when they considered pinball to be gambling because they considered the free game you could win was something that had monetary value. At least that's how I remember it back in the 1970s.
 
From what I understand any state that surrounds IL has the worst time with gaming permits due to problems with organized crime in the past... add a fear of kidnapping and molestation and BAM! NO MINORS ALLOWED WITHOUT AN ADULT.

My big question is that we're not supposed to have any minor under 16 years old here, unless accompanied by an adult that is 18 and over... so what am I supposed to do with 17 year olds? WTF?

I think Minneapolis has stricter arcade laws than most places. It's been years but I distinctly remember the minimum age for pinball to be 18, at a time when the drinking age was 19. That was at a time when they considered pinball to be gambling because they considered the free game you could win was something that had monetary value. At least that's how I remember it back in the 1970s.
 
My big question is that we're not supposed to have any minor under 16 years old here, unless accompanied by an adult that is 18 and over... so what am I supposed to do with 17 year olds? WTF?

Simple - a 17 year old can be there alone, but he cannot supervise 16-or-unders
 
Man, that's an incredibly lame ordinance. Is it recent or from a while ago?

I practically grew up in arcades. Not that that's particularly healthy :)

It's pretty damn amazing how the instant spread of terrible news has scared people into thinking we're living in an era of unprecedented crime and violence. Everyone is afraid their kid is going to be kidnapped and murdered. The truth is that we are living in a time of the lowest violent crime in over 40 years. It was literally more dangerous in 1972 than it is in 2013. Hell, crime is down over 30% from just the early 90's!

Don't tell the "news" though.
 
Hell, I *was* that kid on a pretty regular basis :p

Haha amen to that. I was raised by my grandparents but when I did live with my mom for a few years, always in different intervals my brother and I would get 10-20.00 to go to the arcade in the mall which we could walk to. Which I would never let my son do especially in that city, but we would hit up the arcade for about 2-3 hours (now I take my son to the arcade and spend 40-50 in an hour and god forbid I take my sister - my mom needed another kid to neglect since we're all grown and out) I spend almost 100.00 in an hour and the games now are all ticket based for the most part so I try to teach my son right and keep him on skee-ball, racing games, air hockey, the 1 or 2 actual arcade games, and then I use the skills I learned to win a ton of tokens as quick as possible to get him some toys to throw in the bottom of his toy box haha.

You're in a rough position though man. Any business has rules that are tough to abide by but at least you're doing what you can, and any kid who has a parent who thinks an arcade 20 minutes from the closest bar is the best baby sitter is lucky to have an owner like you who has their best interest in mind and obviously isn't a creep. Do what you feel is right and keep arcades live. Just like video stores, and locally owned businesses you're a dying/struggling breed I'm sure everyone on here supports ya and are wishing the best for you.
 
Just change your business model, you could become a 'Day Care' with Arcade Games. Then you can charge $15/hr to watch peoples kids AND suck quarters out of them in the interrum, might be more profitable in the long run... ;)

Wait, maybe I am on to something here....






(Just kidding you, but I had to say it... :) )
 
I was never "that kid" but I did get to play games while my parents did laundry at the laundromat. I was always within line of sight, though. I got taken to the arcade as a treat for doing well in school or was allowed to play games at the bowling alley. I never got just dropped off anywhere so they could drink or gamble or whatever.
 
We make fun of that all the time.

Just change your business model, you could become a 'Day Care' with Arcade Games. Then you can charge $15/hr to watch peoples kids AND suck quarters out of them in the interrum, might be more profitable in the long run... ;)

Wait, maybe I am on to something here....






(Just kidding you, but I had to say it... :) )
 
From what I understand any state that surrounds IL has the worst time with gaming permits due to problems with organized crime in the past... add a fear of kidnapping and molestation and BAM! NO MINORS ALLOWED WITHOUT AN ADULT.

My big question is that we're not supposed to have any minor under 16 years old here, unless accompanied by an adult that is 18 and over... so what am I supposed to do with 17 year olds? WTF?


As far as 17 year olds go it depends on if they are Male or Female, How hot they are and if your wife is around.

We rode our bikes to the arcades in town. None of them would last very long. One was downtown about a mile or more or so.
 
Every time my family went to the mall in the early 80's, I pretty much spent the entire time at Aladdin's Castle. I was all of about 11 or 12. It was fun to watch people play even after I'd burned through my 5 bucks or so.

Every once in a while a sailor would feel bad for me and spot me some money. To my knowledge none of them ever abducted or molested me...
 
There is also a certain perception that video arcades are seedy places that lead kids into juvenile delinquency.

A lot of towns and cities deal with this by requiring an annual license for every amusement machine and the cost is so high that it makes no financial sense to operate the games.
 
We pay almost $2k every October in licenses and permits

There is also a certain perception that video arcades are seedy places that lead kids into juvenile delinquency.

A lot of towns and cities deal with this by requiring an annual license for every amusement machine and the cost is so high that it makes no financial sense to operate the games.
 
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