This article and comments leave me somewhat stunned. As a kid in the mid-80s, some of my fondest memories are birthday parties Chuck E. Cheese’s. I never saw anything like what is described here. The biggest problem was the kids pulling on the tail of the guy in the mouse costume. It used to dangle down and back, but I think kids pulling on it was so common that later costumes had the tail bent up and to the right such that it was basically pointing at the head of the costume’s wearer. This way a kid couldn’t pull it while the mouse’s back was turned.
The kids play, the Moms/Dads chat (and sometimes play air hockey or skee-ball with them) and nobody I know has ever has had a problem. Our school even has fund raisers there where they give back 15% of the sales to the school. I will admit its not my favorite food, but give me a break, its not like its a dangerous place, at least not in my neighborhood. I have never seen suspicious people or fights break out among any of the adults. The worst thing I have seen is a kids ran to get tokens from another boy who dropped his container. I think he got away with one token.