Many fights at malls occurred across the country after Christmas and social media may be to blame.

The mall incidents, which ranged from minor fights to mass evacuations, occurred in Colorado, Tennessee, Texas, and New Jersey according to USA Today.

However, the one that affects the citizens of West Chicago is the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora.

One fight took place in front of the Macy’s store at the Fox Valley Mall. Employees at the mall told USA Today they saw multiple fights with large numbers of teens involved but could not estimate the number of fighters.

Twitter users posted videos of all of the fights that involved teens.

Junior Avalon Smith was at the Fox Valley Mall before the fighting took place.

“There were a lot of people and there was a group of teenagers downstairs in the food court and were also a small group of mall cops. The cops were watching them. I wasn’t surprised when they started fighting, I wanted to watch but it was better to leave than get in trouble,” Smith said.

The common element of the fights across the country is that they all involved teens. Another common element that these fights have is that many people posted it on social media.

What is most notable though is that these fights occurred at malls in at least 12 states within hours of each other.

“It happened the day after Christmas, most of these individuals were school-age children and they have nothing to do. And this is the YouTube generation, they record everything, and they want to stimulate things through their social media,” security expert Chris McGoey told USA Today.

Because of the fights at the Fox Valley Mall, new rules are in place to keep shoppers safe. The policy states that guests who are younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult 21 or older for certain hours when the mall designates a “parental escort policy” day. The mall welcomes all ages, but on designated days when big crowds are anticipated, the mall will enforce this rule from 4 to 9 p.m., when the mall closes.

This rule is unjust. Not every teen was involved in the fight. Teens now cannot go to the mall to have fun with friends. Many teens go to the mall because that is one of the few places where teens are welcomed. Many understand that shoppers want others to be safe but is making this policy necessary to all teens?

Apparently it is since the mall wants people to feel safe. But that is unfortunate how a few people are ruining going to the mall for everyone.

Shoppers who were returning gifts after the holidays or simply wanting to have a good time could not do this because of the fights.

Police in some cities are investigating the role social media may have played in organizing the disturbances. The motive behind the mall brawls is not yet known but with many teens fighting, others wanted in on the action.

Teens can be rebellious, but do they have to be rebellious in a public place? They scared other shoppers and ruined their shopping when some of the malls had to evacuate.

Until kids learn how to respect each other and others, other teens who can are penalized with a mall rule.

Social media may play a big part in the number of fights across the country and it affected innocent shoppers. Social media plays a big role in teens lives and it can be one of the reasons why many fights occurred in the days after Christmas.

After these fights, teens need to learn and understand what is acceptable in public places. Teens need to figure out a balance between being good and rebellious. If this were to happen then less fights will happen and the Fox Valley Mall would not have created this new policy.