Students from two Darwin public schools have been dealt a four-week ban from the city's main shopping complex over because of fighting and vandalism involving some students on the premises.
For the next four weeks, students from Sanderson Middle and Casuarina Senior College will be unable to enter Casuarina Square unless accompanied by an adult.
Sentinel Property Group's Polly Lamond, who manages the complex, told ABC Radio Darwin the ban was in response to an escalation in bad behaviour inside the centre last week.
"Some pretty terrible fights have happened. One fight actually made its way into a store," she said.
"We're continuing to see vandalism in our seating areas, [in] our parents' rooms. We had a table flipped last week and it broke one of our floor tiles in one of our seating areas.
"We just can't put up with it anymore, it's not on."
It is the second time the centre has banned entire student cohorts from select Darwin schools in recent weeks.
Students from six Darwin public middle and high schools were banned from entering the centre for 48 hours last month, following reported fighting involving large numbers of students the week prior.
Ms Lamond said the previous approach of banning individual students after an incident had not stopped fights from taking place.
"It's the minority that will affect the majority ... we have to try something different," she said.
Around 1000 young people will be affected by the month-long ban.
During last month's ban, Acting Northern Territory Children's Commissioner Nicole Hucks raised concern about the blanket nature of the measure and warned against over-stating the scale of the problem.
In a statement sent to the ABC, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said she supported the move and congratulated Sentinel for "taking a stand".
She said youth outreach workers from the Territory Families department would "continue to patrol" the centre.
Ms Lamond said the feedback from retailers following last month's ban had been "overwhelmingly supportive".
One business owner had complained about a drop in takings, she said.
A youth drop-in centre that previously operated at Casuarina closed last year, with a new facility funded by the territory and federal governments yet to replace it.
