HOUSTON – Parents are voicing their concerns over the theme of an upcoming "teen only" night at a popular Houston nightclub. Rich's on San Jacinto in downtown Houston sent electronic flyers via Facebook promoting a "School Girls Go Playboy" party this month.
"(I think) it's exploiting the fact that these young girls are naive and don't understand the full implications of being treated as a sex object," said Laura Gallier, a mother of four who is also a local author who teaches family values and abdicates teen abstinence.
The club's flyer states the age group for teen night is 14 to 18 years old and adds, "Ladies bring out the skirts and come looking sexy in Bad School Girl Costumes or PLAYBOY Costumes & get in FREE before 9 p.m.!" The capitalization of certain words and exclamation point is a verbatim transcript of a message posted on the club's teen night Facebook page and were not added by Local 2.
"Anytime we are offering a financial reward for young ladies to dress as they say as a naughty school girl or a Playboy costume, I think there is something wrong with that," said Gallier.
"We are certainly not trying to exploit anyone," said Rebecca Marshall, Rich's general manager and mother of two.
"I encourage parents to come and see that their children are in a safe atmosphere," said Marshall during a phone interview with Local 2. "What I would recommend to the parents that are concerned is that they either have a choice to let their children come or not."
Marshall adds the club has hosted many themed teen nights and Rich's has always employed a zero tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior. Marshall said there is always tight security on-hand for teen nights, no liquor is kept anywhere in the club and parents are allowed to chaperone their children.
When other parents saw the flyer, reactions were mixed.
"I don't see nothing wrong with that. There's no profanity or nothing showing nudity then, yeah, I would say it's OK," said Carla Castillas, a
Houston mother.
"Oh, no, definitely not," said Albert Garcia, a Houston father when asked if he would allow his daughter to attend a Playboy themed teen night. "No, no."
After Local 2's story was broadcast, we received a text message from Marshall. The text was from the same phone number Local 2 used to conduct the phone interview with Marshall earlier in the day.
The text stated the club would be changing the theme of the upcoming teen night from a Playboy theme. When asked what the theme would be for the night, Marshall responded it was still "TBA."