To think Asda are wrong to put this sign up

[kslatts]

Went to customer services in Asda today and noticed a sign that said only 4 unaccompanied school children were allowed in the shop at a time before 9am.

To me this seems very unreasonable, implies all school children can't be trusted. Even verging on age discrimination.

My dd (14) walks to school with about 6 friends everyday and often buys her lunch from tesco's on the way and has never had any problems, they have always gone in together.

Anyone else think this is unreasonable?

Am at people saying it is discriminatory and will make the well-behaved kids feel bad.
Teenagers aren't stupid - we had signs like these up in all the local shops when I was at secondary in the late 90s/early 2000s, so it's hardly new either.
Being pretty well-behaved, my friends and I just accepted that it was to stop the tossers from mucking around and making the shopkeepers' lives hard. If your child makes a fuss about it, sorry, but they're one of the tossers, because the sensible kids will just take it in stride.

You cannot compare this type of "discrimination" to not allowing black people/women in ffs.

I have seen signs like this in shops since my childhood. (am nearly 40). YABU Asda are not

Their shop, their rules. If anyone doesn't like it, there are other shops.

But the rules are for their customers - the people who want to shop and spend money without the hassle of negotiating groups of teenagers milling about. As thebody says, shops are businesses, not youthclubs.

It's not much different from holiday companies deciding they wont allow big groups of single sex guests in their apartments/challets/rooms.

They're not doing it for fun, they're doing it because there's been trouble in the past and they're trying to avoid it. For everybody's sake.

If i had a shop i wouldn't want large groups of teens in it all at once either. I've worked in retail most of my life and i know they can be a pain in the arse. So can single drunk blokes and women in pairs shoplifting, for eg. but these types of pains in the arse are harder to spot at the point of entry to the shop and be stopped from coming in.

The sainsburys near my sons school does this. No children in school uniform between 7.30am and 4pm!! Yet the 6th formers are allowed in in groups and are often blocking the aisles.
Also it's a well known joke that the boys just take off their blazer and tie put them in their bag walk in buy what they want and no one bats an eyelid.

My ds is 11 and he has school dinners for the main but might want to get a drink for his long walk or bike ride home.

including banning people from walking into the shop without tops on, no shoes on feet etc.

....no pajamas

Just to clarify:

My dd hasn't experienced problems, she sometimes goes to tesco's on her way to school, I started the thread based on a sign I happened to see when exchanging something in our local Asda.

My dd does not feel she needs to go in with her friends, but if they all sent in individually then she would risk being late for school.

You cannot compare this type of "discrimination" to not allowing black people/women in ffs.

GalaxyDefender - my child hasn't made a fuss about it, I saw the sign and considered it unfair, surely it's discrimination based on age? Interested to know why you think it is different from discrimination against black people/women.

I live in a town with 4 secondary schools and Superdrug put a notice on the door to say that no one in a certain school uniform was allowed in because one child that uniform had been caught shop-lifting after school. We all backed the shop and so did the school staff. Discrimination against 599 children in the same school who were innocent? Yes, but effective apparently and the ban has now been lifted after a year. Up to the shop I say.

Why are groups of more than 2 teens refered to as a 'gang'?

Ive got quite a few friends, when we go out together we aren't deemed to be a gang, why are groups of teens automatically a gang and up to no good?

If the sign says no more than 4 children at a time, it doesn't mean no groups bigger than 4 at a time and single children shoppers can come in, it bans children coming in if there are already than 4 in there, which is both unfair and inconvenient.

I can understand why some shops limit numbers, especially the smaller shops, but I really hate the demonisation on teens that pervades society in general.

Interested to know why you think it is different from discrimination against black people/women.

Black people or women can't change who they are. Schoolchildren can. They don't need to push, fight, drop litter, block the way of other shoppers, harass the staff and all the other things that they got up to (in our shop).

It's the norm round here to have these signs.

When you have been in the store with these school children, who are abusive, destructive, aggressive, and shop lifting then you will understand. The ones that these signs are aimed at, don't just give the staff a lot of problems but also other paying customers. Businesses loose money because other customers don't want to shop in the store.

The stores were forced to take this action because the school refused full stop to do a thing. Oh no it won't be our students, etc, despite them being in full uniform and followed into the school. It was the police who advised the stores to implement these measures.

So although your child might not be doing this, you don't know about the others, even in her little peer group.

Black people or women can't change who they are. Schoolchildren can.

So if you are a school child who doesn't shoplift or cause trouble, just goes into a shop gets what you want to buy and pays same as any other customer surely you are being discrimination against because of the actions of other school children. So please explain what the well behaved school child needs to change?

Black people or women can't change who they are. Schoolchildren can. They don't need to push, fight, drop litter, block the way of other shoppers, harass the staff and all the other things that they got up to (in our shop

But not all schoolchildren do those things, most don't. That is why it is discriminatory.

What should shopkeepers do then? Put up with the bad ones?

I don't think it is discrimination. It's not discrimination to have to go into a shop on your own.

No one has mentioned that this happens to men going out on the weekend at many pubs and clubs across the UK.

I can see that it can be an issue for some smaller shopkeepers.

But if a 30 yr old man stole/behaved inappropriately in your shop, would you then ban 30 yr old men? of course not.

Children are an easier target for these things as on the whole they don't have a 'voice'

Lots of people cause problems, but it is only children that get bans like this.

But only children came in every single day and caused the same problems. After we started counting them coming in, the behaviour was so much better.

What should shopkeepers do then? Put up with the bad ones?

No, they should deal with the bad ones and let the other school children shop the same way they would any other customers.

I don't think it is discrimination. It's not discrimination to have to go into a shop on your own.

Would you say they same if the discussion was about elderley people?

We did try to deal with the bad ones. It's almost impossible, and it's so hard when it's every single day from August-June. The best way to deal with it was to make sure that they came in in small groups because bigger groups egged each other on.

&Would you say they same if the discussion was about elderley people?* Yes.

It's not age discrimination because you are not refusing entry entirely based on the age of the customer, it's the size of the group which you are restricting and they must have every legal right to do this. They are not being refused entry because they are under 16 but because school children unlike any other groups of individuals tend to go shopping in a known collective.

It's the same as hotels and b&bs being able to refuse stag and hen parties, nothing to do with ethnicity or age of the customer simply the size of the group

I can understand that Annunziata.

bakingaddict. If it was only about group size, it wouldn't stipulate children

Would you say they same if the discussion was about elderley people?

If a shop had had trouble with groups of elderly people going in and intimidating other customers/stealing then yes I would say the same about them.

I really can't see why having to enter the shop in smaller groups is any problem at all. The supermarket isn't somewhere to go to hang around its somewhere to go in grab what you want and come out again. The shop aren't stopping them from being able to do this.

Op you are saying well the store should deal with them... How?

In some cases we are not talking a bit of shop lifting. We are also talking abuse verbal and physical, spitting. Out of store, stones thrown when staff come out to catch the offenders. Restrain the kids, and this escalates the problem because not only is the staff investigated for abuse as claimed by the kid, but the parents storm into the store and start.

Police come, chances are the kids have legged it.. You think the police have nothing better to do than daily look for these kids? Hence, they advice limiting numbers. At least the letting in 4, have seen a lot of stores limiting it to one.