A MEMBER of the Thurrock Youth Cabinet, Dami Fawehinmi has written a blog piece on the issues and problems that confront young people from Thurrock today.
In many convenience stores such as Tesco’s express, young people are asked to stand outside the shop and can only go in two at a time. Sometimes if you are on your own the security guard will follow you around and it can be quite unnerving.
Like any other consumer, we wish to buy goods, youth discrimination should be as big a problem as racism. No store would ever put a sign saying “Two Asians at a time.” So why do they do it for young people?
Secondly in Blackshots gym, it is very popular with many young people wishing to get fit. However their times are inflexible. The junior gym is only open six days a week in comparison to the 7 days a week adults receive.
The junior is only open from 4:30-5:30 from Monday to Thursdays, 5-6 on Fridays and 9-12 on Saturdays. If the wellbeing of young people in Thurrock is so important why is this gym not accommodating the health needs of young people?
This isn’t very popular in areas such as Chafford but in smaller towns such as Tilbury, teenagers have been stopped and searched. We understand that the police are doing their job to ensure that everyone is kept safe and isn’t doing anything illegal but about 142,121 young people under the age of 18 were stopped and searched last year in England and Wales and only 11% were actually committing an offence.
