No children allowed in supermarket

[flashbac]

My sister went to Tesco with her toddler and was told no children allowed from next week. Understand this is wise for infection control but what if you're a single parent with tiny kids and can't do online shopping?

@lilmishap obviously I'm not claiming to know all the plans Tesco have but colleagues would have been made aware if we should be following rules like that, it would be foolish to even try as its unavoidable for some families. It may be a case of the store in question have decided if they have two parents with a child or parent + grandparent and child they they will stop the extra adult and child coming in, which is understandable

This was obviously caused by parents who didn't / couldn't control their kids
and those kids became a menace to other shoppers and staff

The problem with saying just chuck out those parents & kids is that the staff would face abuse and people would just refuse to leave without their shopping

• the police are too busy to immediately remove them

' I think this is the right decision given the number of kids allowed to run riot in supermarkets. '

As the death rates start to ramp there will be a lot more single parent families around. Plenty of parents have underlying health conditions.

Glad to see so many would be pleased to see them turned away from shops.

This really is bringing out the worst in people.

Single parents have high rates of poverty and people smugly saying yes they should be banned from the shops where food is cheaper.

It is very unsafe having so many in - I was in a supermarket earlier - tiny one which had good with about 4 people in the queue but several had loads of children in tow one of whom had an awful dry cough. I do wonder if we might all be a lot safer if the schools had stayed fully open

Oh great I will write to my mp - hang on a minute Handcock is my mp - gosh I bet this is going to be effective ...

Because many single parents have lost their entire support networks due to them being in isolation. The earliest I can get a click and collect slot is 3 weeks time. Many single parents I know can't afford the £25 minimum on online ordering to click and collect.

Our community groups are overrun with people needing help grabbing shopping, single parents fall pretty far down the list of priorities there too.

Definitely couples rocking up at the supermarket with kids in tow should not be allowed in. And anyone letting their children run around, handle goods and bump into other customers should be kicked out.

Not sure what single parents, who are prepared to keep their kids under control, can do though.

It would be useful if OP could return and clarify what happened.
For all we know her sister might have been getting removed from the store cause her kids were shoplifting when the comment was made!

This was my initial thought too.

Just use your corner shop

Where’s Dad? Aagggh!!! We are NOT supposed to be mixing beyond our home/family unit.

I used to be a single parent. This is ill thought out, unless of course, single parents are on the list for home delivery of food parcels. I’m so sorry for those single parents, at home alone with young kids. So, so hard.

Perhaps the volunteer service will step in.

I’ve just had an update email from Tesco and it’s says to try and shop alone, it’s not worded like an outright ban.

I think the staff need to use discretion here, 2 adults and a kid or two, send all but one adult away, adult with a child then let them in but I can see how this is going to go very wrong with overly zealous security guards 😔

In an emergency, groups that consistently cause a greater hazard to others will be excluded,
lumping the well-behaved with those who run riot

If parents had all kept their kids on reins and 2 meters away from other people, then this measure would not be necessary

However, many parents have always let their kids infringe the personal space of others, mess around with goods on the shelves,
lick or even piss & crap in the shops

and now can't / won't suddenly train them to behave in a civilised way

@NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 for a lone parent of kids to do a weekly shop?

Where are these mythical corner shops that sell enough proper groceries for all the single parents in the area to live off? mines done his best as he was mainly an offie beforehand, there's a limit

Many Corner shops are a lot more expensive than a supermarket.

'Banning children is a good thing'

Lovely. Any thought for the large increase in single parent families that's coming? Yeah fuck em.

Not everyone has support networks. Mental health issues in single parents in poverty are not uncommon.

A lot of people just don't like children, see them as germ infested and want them out of sight and out of mind. And don't really think further than that.

I've got 2 boys one is 11 and the other is 4, I've had to take my 4 year with me, but now I've got people saying I should leave my 4 year with my eldest, as it's not fair to take my little one, but surely that makes me irresponsible, I feel like I can't win

Community groups are struggling to reach even the elderly around here.

Sorry, that was harsh! Of course people need to eat and feed kids! But we also need to contain the spread of Covid-19. Shop workers And their families are being continually exposed, and unsupervised kids (not all parents obviously ) are adding massively to the risk! Supermarkets will now need to find a way to give priority online, click and collect to those who cannot get into the shop.

Just use your corner shop? Our corner shop doesn't sell anything other than chocolate and drinks. We live slap bang in the middle of a Tesco, Lidl and Sainsburys so there is no market for a corner shop so we don't have a proper one

Corner shops cost a hell of a lot more than the supermarkets, a cost many can't afford. Even in the supermarkets the panic buying has caused major issues financially for those on low incomes. For instance my normal £4 nappies were £11 which I had no choice but to buy.

It's the idiotic and selfish idiots to blame for this.
The people that want to go to the supermarket every day because "at least it's out of the house" instead of only going when absolutely necessary and the ones with 2 parents but still insist on the whole family walking around the shop when clearly 1 parent could have stayed at home or in the car with the kids.

I don't know what the answer is for single parents. Deliveries are impossible to get.

This is what happens when the idiots just think about themselves. It impacts us all.

I don't think many corner shops sell formula do they? And they are massively expensive. And don't have much fresh if anything at all.

But yes good plan and seems to be one the majority agree with.

This is shocking for single parents but its also a nightmare for those key workers who are working long shifts too. My DH has worked 2 x 15 hour shifts in a key role so far this week and it's showing no sign of easing off. What a wonderful way to repay these people by asking them to leave their kids outside.

On first glance this seems like a good idea, limiting the number of people in the shop.

Then I think about my BIL who has 3 primary DC to look after whilst his partner does 24h on 24h off front line NHS.

Anyway with the 1 item limit voulteners are having to do multiple shops a day to get some items - say you helping out 4 or 5 households that might mean 2 or 3 walk around if dropping of two or three times a week