Store in North Carolina selling inappropriate items to minors
Categories: Teens & tweens, In the news
When I was a teenager, I remember going to the mall and looking around Spencer's Gifts at all the crazy and wild items in there. Several things were embarrassing and I was unsure what they were. I haven't given it much thought since my teen years, but apparently the items being sold by Spencer's has gotten worse.A group of parents in Durham, North Carolina set up an undercover operation in which they filmed minors going into the store attempting to buy sexually explicit items. A group of teenagers were able to buy sex toys and when asked if there was an age limit in the store, the clerk responded that the only thing they could not sell to children was lighter fluid.
Several parents then took a video camera into the stores to document the items sold by the store. In fact, when they attempted to post their video on YouTube to warn other parents, the video was found to be too graphic and flagged as inappropriate. The parents questioned why the items can be displayed openly in the stores to minors but is considered inappropriate for anyone under 18 on the internet.
An ABC News affiliate in their city conducted an investigation to see what teens could access inside the store and sent three 13- and 14-year-old girls into the store with a hidden camera, where they were not questioned while they viewed sexually based cards and toys.
When questioned about their policies, Spencer's said, "Spencer's understands our obligation to maintain an environment of trust appropriate for the guests who patronize our stores. In every location, we inform our guests, before entering, that a small portion of adult-themed merchandise is on display in the rear of the store. It is also our policy to discourage the sale of items with an adult theme to guests under the age of majority. Spencer's has a 60-year tradition as the authentic destination for fun, humor and unique merchandise targeted to our core 18- to 24-year-old guests, but we also respect the choices of all individuals who visit our stores."I was unaware that Spencer's sold sex toys but I am aware of some of their items that might be inappropriate for minors. While parents of younger children can avoid these displays or the store completely, what about teenagers who either hang out at the mall with friends without parental supervision? Should these types of mall stores be more aware of minors in the store and separate their display cases to prevent younger children from viewing these items?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mel 3-07-2008 @ 4:09PM
So these parents had the time and energy to execute an "undercover operation" but they can't find it within themselves to just parent their kids? Spencer's, not any other business, is responsible for what our children see and purchase. Parents control what kids see, where they go, and what they buy. By definition, that is what it means to be a parents. If parents choose not to monitor their kids' activities, they'll have to deal with the consequences. Also, Spencer's does not offer "sex toys" as they are commonly understood. Instead, it sells gag gifts, sometimes sexual in nature. These include such silly and innocuous items such as strip poker cards and little tiny condoms. Seeing these things, or even buying them, will do no harm to teens. But parents do have the right to regulate their kids' access to such things - by PARENTING, not by placing all the onus on stores.
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the goddess anna 3-07-2008 @ 5:40PM
Not disagreeing with the premise of your statement, but in the Va Bch/Chesapeake area Spencer's stores, they do sell vibrators and dildos. I was shocked because the store where I grew up (Delaware) did not sell such brazon sexual products (just the bachelor/ette type stuff). It's like walking into an adult store.
Tree 3-09-2008 @ 3:39PM
So you don't have teenagers and when you do, they will never be allowed to go anywhere w/out you, right?
"Parents control what kids see, where they go, and what they buy."
Unless you keep your kids on a tight, short, leash and don't let them have any friends, that's crap.
Seriously, do you have kids and if so, how old?
Sorry if this feels like I'm attacking you, I'm just tired of this idea that parents can control everything a child does or even sees. Does no one remember being a child anymore? I didn't tell my parents every little thing I saw and did and went to when I was out with my friends. If there was something I didn't want them to know about, I lied. Once your child is in school, you can't control what the other kids might tell them about or show them, and your child isn't always going to tell you about it either.
On another post last week there was an argument going on about how kids aren't responsible enough and parents are too controlling. And now we don't control enough when our pre-teens and teens are allowed to go to the mall with their friends. Can't have it both ways. Wanting some say in what is being sold to your kid IS parenting!
ame s 3-07-2008 @ 4:41PM
Yes please! I live in a town of about 200,000. I don't allow my children to go into the Spencer's in our local mall. The store does have most of the "colorful" items in the back part of the store, but there is no sign or any seperation of that section. You can see it all even if you are in the middle of the store looking at black lights and lava lamps.
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mamacheryl 3-07-2008 @ 7:00PM
Maybe I haven't been a mom long enough, but I'm kind of in the boat of "You need to do the sex education yourself at home." Why is the presence of vibrators and dildos in the world a horrible, terrible thing?
Maybe I'll feel different when my kids are that age, but I think I'd rather have them explore their burgeoning sexual desires by themselves than with other kids when they may or may not use protection or feel comfortable.
When I was a teen, I knew I wasn't allowed in Spencers because of the sexual content. I went anyway, and giggled with my friends over the vibrators.
Cheryl
http://redpens-diapers.blogspot.com
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Jenn 3-07-2008 @ 9:03PM
Wow, Spencers has changed since I was a teen, then...they sold somewhat racy greeting cards and a lot of gag gifts, but almost all of them were innuendo-type stuff, not brazenly sexual. I never saw dildos or vibrators there, at least not until "personal massagers" started showing up everywhere from Sharper Image to Avon. (Since they're still selling those, should we all boycott the Brookstone stores too?)
I do think that if they are turning into a Condom Sense kind of place, they probably don't belong in the local mall, unless they don't allow anyone under the age of 18 through the front doors.
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ninainindia 3-07-2008 @ 10:40PM
Why are some people so afraid of sex toys? Your children will not be harmed by seeing an item like that. I remember when I was that age my friends and I went to stores like that and giggled at the funny objects. It's a part of growing up, learning that items like these excist.
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toni 3-08-2008 @ 3:28AM
my 11 year old went into Spencers when we split up at the mall and then questioned me later as to what some of the "toys" were. i honestly had no idea that his going in there to get "shock gum" would expose him to so much. it opened up a conversation that confused me because is wasnt sure it was time to have THAT talk. sure, he's been talked to about the "bird & bees" but i would have preferred that vibrators and dildos and blow up dolls and cock pops were left out of it at this point. i believe that Spencers should have an adult only section for some of their more adult items.
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the goddess anna 3-08-2008 @ 8:50AM
I'm pro-sex toys. And to be honest, my husband and I aren't the best about hiding them in places where the kids will never find them (yes, my kids have found them). But they don't need to be sold in the mall. I don't take my kids with me when I go into an adult store - there is a time and a place for exposure to these things, and a shopping trip is not really one of those. I also respect the fact that not everyone is comfortable with sex toys period, and would rather not have to explain them to their children.
Spencer's could make more of an effort to segregate these items
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