Shopping and children both form an integral part of any woman's life, but both responsibilities cannot be handled simultaneously with success. Women in the Kingdom have limited time on their hands while in shopping malls and in an increasingly worrying new trend, some have started preferring devoting that time to the former activity. This means that children and teenagers are often left to fend for themselves in shopping malls, which leaves them open to a number of risks and dangerous circumstances. “I prefer to go shopping without my children but since they range between five and 11 years of age, I have taught my eldest daughter to take care of them while I'm away,” remarked Noha Kabli, a Saudi housewife and mother of three. She has learned how to handle the responsibility, but my husband worries that something adverse may happen and urges me to take the children with me when I go out.” Other women take their children with them but seat them in food courts and restaurants for long periods of time. Another Saudi woman (who wishes to remain anonymous) remarked that her husband has also forced her to take their children with her while shopping and that this arrangement causes much inconvenience for her. “My children waste time and cause delays in the shopping, so I leave them in certain cafes in the mall so that I can get my work done,” she stated. In contrast, there are children who ask their parents , and especially mothers, not to accompany them in malls.” My eldest daughter explicitly asks me not to come with her, because she prefers to go with her friends, but my husband refuses to let her go without me,” remarked Hanan Mohammed, an Egyptian housewife who has five daughters between the age of three and 14. In a distinct case of role reversal, she finds herself unable to stay with her daughter for too long and prefers to sit in a cafe and wait. An expert in children psychology spoke to Saudi Gazette and indicated that there is a need for parents to give children the liberty to move freely, without feeling threatened by parents. “Leaving children to move freely around the mall is considered an important step to expand the child's mind,” explained Najwan Al-Essaily, a child psychologist. “The freedom must be monitored but without the child experiencing any of that. Mothers should advise their children to move around freely in malls and sit in any restaurant or cafe they like, but should always be monitored from afar.” She added that it is very dangerous to make a child hesitant about anything in life, and much more advisable to allow the child to discover the world on his or her own terms. However, Al-Essaily indicated that a worrying trend is for mothers to leave their young children unattended and without any kind of monitoring or supervision. In direct contrast with the provision of freedom, this kind of behavior results in random flirtation, the loss of children and theft. “In the adolescent age, most young people start searching for something to do and often start flirting at random with other young people,” she said. “Children also don't have enough money to buy everything they like, so they often feel the need to steal.” Sociologist Mansour Bin Askar from Riyadh's King Saud university, mirrored the risks of this behavior and claimed that such mothers are irresponsible. “I advise parents to control and observe their children during the time spent in shopping malls and ensure that their morals remain intact,” he stressed.
