On November 27, 2019, a group of friends and I went to the Fashion District. As many may know, Center City businesses are kicking out anyone that is younger than 18. This is mainly seen at The Liberty Place which has a policy that minors must be accompanied by an adult during after school hours.

I decided to go to the Fashion District to see if they had the same policy. In order to make myself an appealing target, I brought 3 friends with me. We first went into Burlington and just walked around. After a while, it was clear that we weren’t going to be kicked out so we left and went to the next store, H&M. 

We walked in and the employees didn’t do anything, they just looked at us suspiciously. After about 3 or 4 minutes of us walking around, an employee came up to us and told us that we needed to leave. So we left and went to the next store which was Forever 21. A woman at the entrance immediately said that we were not allowed to come in. Instead, we left that store and went into Century 21. There were security guards at the front and surprisingly, they didn’t say anything to us. After walking around for a few minutes we decided to leave the Fashion District.

 Zaniyah Kirkland, a student at Parkway Center City, feels that students shouldn’t need a parent in order to shop. She said, “We’re becoming more independent and we don’t need our parents to be everywhere we are.”

Students now choose to shop at the Fashion District instead of The Liberty Place since The Liberty Place has the most businesses that are likely to kick students out. 

Teens can no longer spend their free time the way they want. They can’t enjoy time out with their friends or enjoy shopping. This new policy is unjust and I believe that it should be taken away.