This Chick-Fil-A Is Banning Unaccompanied Minors – Because Of Course It Is
Unfortunately, we're all familiar with the concept of one person ruining something for everyone in any number of different scenarios. This time, however, a Pennsylvania Chick-fil-A was forced to readdress its stance altogether on unaccompanied minors. Rest assured, these changes to store policy affect only Chick-fil-A's Royersford, PA, location, but the story is an important one nevertheless.
According to the store's Facebook post on February 22, 2023, the changes were long overdue. "Unacceptable behaviors" exhibited by unaccompanied minors included being loud and using explicit language, leaving trash behind, vandalizing the property, cursing at and disrespecting employees, and walking in drive-thru lanes. It goes without saying that this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated, and shouldn't have to be. Chick-fil-A isn't a daycare, y'all.
As such, the Royersford location decided that all minors under the age of 16 must be "accompanied by an adult" if they want to dine in the restaurant. Otherwise, they can still order, but they must order as takeout. Needless to say, people weren't happy with the announcement.
If you can't behave, you lose privileges – simple as that
Despite clearly stating in its announcement that it did not blame the parents, the Royersford Chick-fil-A faced a lot of backlash from the community regarding its decision. One woman wrote on Facebook, "Are you freaking kidding me? Yet another reason for me to never go to Chick-fil-A. What a crappy, mean-spirited, and narrow attitude." Others accused the restaurant of discriminating against young patrons and violating their civil rights.
However, as TODAY points out, many of the 1.3k+ comments were in support of the new rule about unaccompanied minors. One person commented, "When one can't behave, they lose privileges," while others wrote that they had been witnesses to the disrespectful behavior and wholeheartedly backed Chick-fil-A's decision.
Some took things a step further and said they wished more restaurants — and even supermarkets — had policies like this. A Liverpool McDonald's issued a similar ban on unaccompanied minors in July 2022, as have a few other restaurants, but it's doubtful changes will ever be made on a wider level given the controversy around the subject.