At least that’s the message a TV station in San Antonio, Texas is trying to get out to parents. A local TV news crew there recently aired an investigative report illustrating dangerous lapses in security at nearly every Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in the city.
At the heart of the investigation was the popular restaurant chain’s Kid Check program. Parents with young children are likely familiar with the service. Basically, when you visit the kiddie eatery, which is jam-packed with video games, indoor playground equipment and other toys, you get your hand stamped with invisible ink. When you visit in a large group everyone in your party gets a matching number stamped on his or her hand. Then, when a child wants to leave the play area a Chuck E. Cheese employee shines a black light on the stamp to ensure it matches the one that is stamped on the person he or she is leaving with. If it doesn’t, then the child is not allowed to leave.
According to Chuck E. Cheese managers, the goal of the Kid Check program is to have everyone that came in together, leave together. But, according to the local news team, almost all of the Chuck E. Cheese’s in San Antonio fail to meet that goal. In fact, according to police reports uncovered by the news crew, several parents filed complaints against Chuck E. Cheese because employees there allowed their children to leave with people who were not part of their group.
When the TV station put the restaurant’s Kid Check program to the test a couple of months ago they discovered the same disturbing trend. The news team placed cameras (some hidden, others not) in five Chuck E. Cheese restaurants in San Antonio and used other station employees as customers.
At one location the TV crew films a baby getting a sticker with a number placed on his back (which is policy for infants) while his “mom” gets her hand stamped. Minutes later, the news crew’s “mom” swaps children and tries to walk out. The attendant never even bothers to check for stamps. What’s more, cameras also catch the baby with the sticker on his back leaving with strangers while the Chuck E. Cheese Kid Check attendant is nowhere in sight. In the end, four of the five restaurants the TV station put to the test failed to check stamps on anyone’s hand and allowed decoy children to leave with any adult that walked out with them.
After the story aired Chuck E. Cheese execs issued a statement saying that they planned to review their Kid Check program. The news reports also included interviews with irate parents saying how they were livid that Chuck E. Cheese could advertise this extra layer of protection, but not enforce it.
Are you kidding me?
If you have ever been in a Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday you know the place is a zoo. I would never trust that a teen employee would be a second line of defense no matter how much you tell me otherwise. I don’t condone the restaurant’s actions, but ultimately it’s your job as a parent to protect your kid. No one is going to value your child’s safety more than you. So bottom line: When you go to Chuck E. Cheese forget about the attendant preserving your child’s welfare and do the job yourself.
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