The reviews or writings of customers in various stores, from blogs to comments, most of the negative comments suddenly made a quick turn straight towards the no-kids zone policies that families with children had to undergo even if their children were educated.

A diverse range of public services, including cafes, restaurants, and even city parks and movie theatres, have changed their policies to boycott children from their stores. 

The pace of society boycotting children is picking up speed.

These permanent child boycotting policies, so-called no-kids zones, are boosting towards a rate of 450, and society still does not know when it will reach 500, but all guarantee that it will surely be a matter of time.

Among all the places in Korea, Jeju Island has the most stores or public spaces classified as permanent no-kids or no-school (teenager) zones.

And when things started to get serious, some stores even started to change their policy into no-school zones where they restrict the entrance of all middle and high school students inside the stores.

Although Jeju Island is the most popular and well-known abroad or inland tourist destination from people abroad and in Korea, the number of stores, public spaces, and even some public libraries running under a permanent and strict no-kids zone policy is increasing rapidly.

In an interview with employees in chain store cafes, the responses were negative towards no-kids zone policies.

An employee in a chain store cafe across a school campus responded that most customers are children accompanied and parents restricted the behavior of their youths before they threw a ruckus.

Or sometimes, students spend most of their time studying or debating in an appropriate social volume and always accompany a tumbler or a cup with a drink of their choice while occupying the seats.

The interviewee mentioned a particularly eerie moment she saw during her shift.

From the interview, the employee told her eyewitness story of a kid who was wailing in the cafe while his mother was in the bathroom; she saw a student who looked like a senior student busily typing on her laptop suddenly rise from her seat in that split second and quieted down the child by buying him a canteen of chocolate and jam cookies.

This interview with the cafe employee tracks the importance of open behavior and perspective and the social manners that the customers and the employees require for a friendly environment.

The no-zones are rapidly increasing, and the majority of the community can feel the change everywhere.

It's not a very open judgment to regulate the bare minimum who show negative behavior and involve the majority to endure all of the defective inconveniences of the no-zones.

On the contrary, people who agree on no-zones to boycott certain age levels of people or, sometimes, pets are growing as if the next day is far.

According to a survey by a mother cafe on a social media platform, a low quantity of negative responses were being shown for the expansion of no-kids zones.

On the contrary, 73% of the users in the social media cafe mirror a positive attitude towards no-kids zones. 

Additionally, a chain cafe in Busan involved a policy where the store rejects any middle or high school students not accompanied by their parents. 

People these days are slowing down at making progress in taking out the no-zones for a more efficient and moral society; another alternative compelling enough to completely turn the handle around might show up to create more open curriculums in the future.

Still, it’s hard to tell when it will be. 

Tara (Seoyeun) Kim
Grade 8
Branksome Hall Asia