A furious parent has launched a petition after being left ‘disgusted’ by ‘inappropriate’ products down an aisle in Tesco.
The ‘protective’ young mum claims she was in her local Tesco Extra recently with her one-year-old son, when they came across some unexpected items in the baby and toddler aisle.
Ayesha Idrees, 28, has told how she had to ‘shield her son’s eyes’ during the weekly grocery shop as they came across a range of adult sex toys that were on display right opposite the baby food and snacks. She was pushing her young child in his pram at the time and the items being at his eye level reportedly made her feel very uncomfortable.
Ayesha, who was shopping in Huddersfield Road, Oldham, Greater Manchester at the time claims she was so outraged by the display that she went to speak to the store’s manager about it, but the next time she visited the shop, on September 29, they were still in the same place.
As such she once again spoke to staff about the sex toys, claiming the manager merely told her that her one-year-old wouldn’t know what the toys were. This left the mum feeling ‘angry’ as regardless of her son’s understanding, she believes it is inappropriate to ‘expose innocent eyes to sexual content’.
She has since launched a petition in a bid to force the store to remove the adult toys from the baby aisle. Ayesha, said: “I went to that aisle to get baby food. My baby was with me at the time and my eldest was still at school. He was in a pram. The baby food is always at his eye level, but so are the [adult] toys.
“It makes me feel very uncomfortable. I’m very protective of my children and I do not want them to be exposed to such things so early in life. Naturally, children are curious and they absorb information from their surroundings. Placing the toys within reach of innocent eyes exposes them to sexual content and I don’t want that. I don’t think it’s appropriate.
“The issue isn’t that they are displaying [adult toys], it’s the fact they’re displaying them at the baby aisle where so many children will be exposed to it. It’s a family supermarket – they should be more cautious with where they place things. The manager meant no offence, but he said my child won’t exactly know what it is.
“But it’s not about if the child recognises what the item is, it should not be displayed to begin with. It doesn’t matter if the child understands or not. It made me a bit angry because an older child, who is also innocent, might understand what it is.
“When I went in today [September 29] I had to cover my son to hide what was going on just so I could grab the things I needed and quickly get out the aisle. I shouldn’t have to do that.”
The full-time mum claims the manager said ‘there’s nothing he can do’ if his seniors choose not to change the display – but Ayesha says she won’t be returning to this Tesco store if the toys aren’t moved.
Ayesha added: “If they don’t resolve it I will not be returning because I do not want my child to be exposed. I don’t want to be supporting a store that doesn’t take into consideration children’s wellbeing. I want Tesco to make a change.”