Why are shops allowed to insist on 'only 2 children at a time' being allowed in their shop?

[DisElfchanted3]

Is this fair? Is it because they believe children to be more likely to shoplift?

I'm cetain they wouldn't be allowed to say no more than '2 black people / pensioners / muslims' etc...

So why is it OK to do this to children?

I'm sure shops do have trouble with kids but the majority just want to buy a snickers on the way home. Shops have bad experiences with every denomination at some point but they can't put restrictions on all customers.

My elsdest is only 4 so not encountered this persoanlly yer, I'm genuinly interested.

schoolchildren hunt in packs. two of them distract the shopkeeper whilst the rest empty the shelves.

haven't you ever heard of the artful dodger?

seriously though - tis a problem in some areas - the kids do literally hunt in packs, laugh in their faces, and nob off with pockets of sweets. harsh for the law-abiding children (like yours and mine, natch), but you can understand why newsagents are wary lol.

I doubt shop keepers put that sign up just for the hell of it. Not that many shops have it, probably just those who have been the target of shop lifters.

Banks say 'please remove your motorbike helmet' Is that descriminating against motorcyclists?

denomination is the wrong word here.

Of course shops can do this, they don't do it for fun - they do it to reduce shoplifting. Most kids wouldn't do it, but if there are only a handful of kids in a shop, the owner can keep an eye on them.

I don't think there's anything wrong with some shops putting those signs up. It's not exactly a hardship for a schoolchild to wait outside for a minute while their friends go in before they go in themselves and it saves the shop being overrun by kids and being left in a mess or, worse, having stuff nicked.
I don't think it's discriminating against children in any way.

I think two at a time is understandable but what I really hate is 'no children at all even when accompanied by an adult' I saw this notice in a shop window in Alston Cubria and it made me so annoyed.

Sorry -Alston, Cumbria.

that seems rather extreme!

From a legal perspective - there is no legislation, as far as I know, which prevents shops from discriminating againt children. There is plenty of legislation to prevent discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, sexuality etc but nothing for the kids. Children get a bum deal. We treat them like criminals and wonder why the feel disallusioned as teenagers.

I don't shop at places like that who have signs like this. It is TOTALLY discrimination against children. Imagine if they said "no more than 2 OAP's"? How is it different?

Well - I think - that each piece of legislation which makes discrimination unlawful specifies the areas of society which it applies to (i.e work, provision of housing etc etc) and that the age discrimination legislation doesn't prevent shops from discriminating against its customers on the basis of their age. I don't know though, just an educated guess. It is massively massively unfair though - I think the worst thing is that it contributes to the destruction of a very fragile self image.