Scenario:
Jordan, Mary, and John are 16 year-old high school students who are feeling hungry and
exhausted after a long day in class! Naturally, a short walk down the road to the
local gas station to get some refreshments is agreed upon, and they get going.
Upon arrival to the station's store, however, they see a clearly marked sign
reading “ONLY 2 STUDENTS IN AT A TIME”. This sign is something the teenagers
took offense to; they later expressed their concern with the store clerk in the
hopes of some clarification, though they received more offensive comments. The clerk said that teenagers like them are more likely to shoplift, solely because of their age.
The store clerk has had his share of damage over the past
years; various items have begun disappearing from his store since the school
kids started visiting. As a small business owner, this cannot be tolerated as
the ‘disappearances’ are costing him a fortune! It is for this reason; he is
taking on a very harsh approach in terms of the operation of his store and his
beliefs.
Are there existing laws that protect those under the age of
18 from such age-based discrimination from individuals like the station store
clerk?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Should young people be protected by the law from age-based discrimination? Why or why not?
Stay tuned for a new blog post in early October to learn about the law in this area and what, if anything, these youth can do....
This post was written by Shawn Malik, a JFCY volunteer on the PLE Team.
The store owner, should base the person limit in his store during the highest theft times as opposed to basing the limit on youth or age. So if most thefts happen between 12 - 1pm and 3-5pm daily, he / she could instead limit the number of all persons of any age to a certain number so they can be more easily monitored. Adults would have to wait outside as well.
ReplyDeleteIf this is too harmful to business, then he could simply close during certain hours, or, he could hire security to stand in each aisle at all times, or during peak theft times regardless of age they have to watch every client.