Fall is here, and with it comes many fun activities such as homecoming, pumpkin spice lattes and going to scary Halloween movies with friends – and a parent, because many movie theaters in the area won’t let anyone under 17 view an R-rated movie without parental supervision. This rule is unfair and should be revised. 

  We’ve all been there; you get to the movie theater with your tickets ready, buy concessions, go to the ticket check only to get turned away for being under 17. This has affected almost all of us who just want to see a scary movie with their friends. While you can usually exchange your ticket for a film PG-13 or below, it is still a setback because now you have to agree on a second film.

Another issue is that once parents drop their kids off at the movie theater, they could potentially have plans and not be able to pick their kids back up. Now kids are stranded at a movie theater with no ride home and no movie to watch, meaning they can only sit and wait. There is no reason they should need supervision because all they are doing is sitting quietly and watching a movie. 

Finally, turning high schoolers away causes a bad reputation for movie theaters. Students come to school the next day complaining to their friends about how they were not permitted to watch a movie, which leads to more students talking about it and complaining. It is time for a change in this policy to prevent the bad publicity movie theaters get for this rule.

While movie theaters can be a fun environment for friends to enjoy a film together, there needs to be changes to the parental supervision rules. Pretty soon students won’t want to go to the movies because parental supervision rules are too strict. It is time to rethink this rule so we can enjoy scary movies again at the theater.