Monday 23 May 2011

Ban everyone wearing yellow trousers.

When I was younger I occasionally went camping with friends. I remember us going to places like Shell Island for the weekend. It was fun. I don't think we caused trouble and it got us out looking after ourselves.

I don't know what I would do now. Over the last few weeks I've spent time in 8 different camp sites. All of them now ban unaccompanied young people and/or groups of single sex individuals.

Surely kids can be trusted to look after themselves? I suspect groups of young people can be noisy. And some are disruptive. But most are no more so than some of the families I've seen at the sites.

The sort of kids who want to go camping are probably not in the main, troublemakers. And the ban on young people at Shell Island hadn't stopped people taking things from tents (big signs around the site pointing out that there had been a spate of thefts). Why not ban everyone who turns up in yellow trousers as some people wearing yellow trousers caused trouble once?

The Equality Act means that those over 18 can't be discriminated against in access to goods and services. But as the Bill went through Parliament, why didn't the children's rights lobby advocate for greater protection of rights?

And why aren't the kids complaining?

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