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Yes, m'lud, I can confirm that the accuseds' father on the other hand has started 1600 topics since the great hack proving beyond all possible doubt that his kids did not shoplift that store
Right, yep, that'll work.🙄
You lot who are advocating going nuclear on the shopkeeper and refusing to listen to any evidence/ dissenting/ questioning people sound just like the sort of scum who would shoplift and then get their parents to blindly stand up for them come what may.
Just for the hard of understanding, I'm not saying you are the sort of people, I'm saying you sound like the sort of person. And that's what you need to get away from in order to convince the shop keeper and police, who have no knowledge at all of SaxonRider's STW posting history kids.
I am completely sure SR's kids didn't rob that shop. But what he needs to do here is go about things in a rational, mature, open, level headed way to prove that they didn't. Not run around like some knuckleheaded entitled ¥£₩÷×
Basically Andrew nailed it here:
I would probably pop in, alone, without the boys and have a very calm chat with the shopkeeper.
Explain that if he has evidence that they have done this then I would like to see it and that if he can show it to me I will be down on them like a ton of bricks and they will be grounded for a year and then drag them back to grovel in front of him.
Also explain that if no such evidence can be produced then any such accusations should be dropped immediately. Not sure what I would do if he persists with an accusation once I know it to be false but hopefully if a calm and civil conversation has taken place he will see it the same way and drop it.
.
First post guaranteed to get people going (retailer vs teens, "anyone touches my kids I swear I'll do time..."), OP hasn't reappeared and good for a few pages yet. I'm going to go straight 9/10.
I'd be in the shop and I'd make them wish they'd never been born.
I’d be in the shop and I’d make them wish they’d never been born.
The kids?
The shopkeeper?
The minimum wage person on the till that day?
Marched him down to the local shop to apologise & shop keeper couldn’t even remember banning him let alone what he’d banned him for 🤣
Most likely the shopkeeper doesn't even remember the incident, until nuclear dad starts threatening them, then everyone gets involved...
Whoever it was throwing accusations around and threatening to report my kids to the school on the word of another gang of kids. I couldn't care less how much that person earns and its irrelevant anyway. I didn't realise being on minimum wage makes it ok to threaten kids. If you don't think defending your kids on things like this is the right thing to do you shouldn't be a parent.
Yes…. Threatening people is bad.
Now read your last post.
Is this whole thread a metaphor for Israel and Palestine?
Whoever it was throwing accusations around and threatening to report my kids to the school on the word of another gang of kids.
Has it occurred to you that the shopkeeper just says this
More serious is threatening the shopkeeper who in all likelihood forgot about the incident three customers after they left
There won't be any action against the kids and the parent up before the magistrate will be a good life lesson
jhinwxm
Free MemberWhoever it was throwing accusations around and threatening to report my kids to the school on the word of another gang of kids. I couldn’t care less how much that person earns and its irrelevant anyway. I didn’t realise being on minimum wage makes it ok to threaten kids. If you don’t think defending your kids on things like this is the right thing to do you shouldn’t be a parent.
.... in the words of a 12 and 14 year old - such an age group has never exaggerated a situation, or tried to escape punishment, ever.
There's defending kids, then there's the sort of parent that goes marching about the place shouting at people at the drop of a hat - two very different things.
I’d be in the shop and I’d make them wish they’d never been born.
And we have our first clear crime, that would be on cctv, and would be taken further.
I think everyone needs to calm down, there are 2 very clear points, 1. parents(and other parents listening to parents) who automatically believe their kids are always innocent because they said they are cannot be trusted, the police have a special blank face for this.
And 2, everyone here should try standing behind a till during school lunchtimes, staff have to try and limit the chaos and groups of kids filling their pockets.
In Edukator’s world if your mum is a credible and reliable witness and says she can’t believe for one second that you would lay a finger on anyone you would be found not guilty of murder.
It doesn’t mean Saxon’s not 100% sure about his conviction, but I thought Edukator was a (former?) teacher and would have met many a parent who was adamant that their offspring would never do anything of the sort despite having seen it themselves? Of course nobody is saying the kids ARE lying - just make sure you don’t make a tit of yourself if it turns out the kids did something stupid or out of character for once. FWIW if it were my son I’d be absolutely astonished (he is as rule following a teenager as I have ever met - to the extent I worry about him!) but then I remember when he “accidentally” saved my credit card details on his computer then “accidentally” bought some games without meaning to!
Does the shop sell frozen sausages? If so, you have your answer …
Also this..
Make a counter claim against the shop owner of touching their front bottom and bribe them into free sweets for life.
Hope the kids had the sense to only shoplift the expensive sweets 😉
I’d be in the shop and I’d make them wish they’d never been born.
Ah, the internet.
I’d be in the shop and I’d make them wish they’d never been born.
Brilliant. Currently in first place for me, just above the Don Logan one.
everyone here should try standing behind a till during school lunchtimes
I'm going to do that today. What should I tell the nice shop lady when she asks what I'm up to?
Brilliant. Currently in first place for me, just above the Don Logan one.
Someone's got their panty-girdle in a twist...
You can’t throw doubt at Saxonriders account of events without implying he’s a liar.
Yes you can, if you imply he is possibly naive as many have already done.
Point the thieves make is don't be so sure you know your own kids. It's absolutely relevant to the thread.
Someone has been making insinnuendoes against those poor boys.
Is this whole thread a metaphor for Israel and Palestine?
I enjoyed this.
I enjoyed this.
So did I. I can't remember what the original thread was that did it but it was still great
It was about a dispute with a neighbour encroaching on the OPs garden iirc? Google-fu is letting me down though
leffeboy
I enjoyed this.
So did I. I can’t remember what the original thread was that did it but it was still great
Wasn't it something about an allotment & putting a fence up because of a squabble, which was a descriptor of the Israel/Palestine situation? Quite amusing....
So has the shop reported this to the school or the Police, or are we all going nuclear for nothing?
or are we all going nuclear for nothing?
Point of order. Some people are going nuclear.
I'm just grandstanding and wondering why the thread feels like a Twitter thread...
Thanks to all of you for your responses. Yes, even to those of you who think I might not recognise if/when my children are lying to me! 😉
I wrote nice email to the school last night (asking that it be forwarded to the respective heads of year or form tutors), briefly explaining what had happened, with the sole purpose of making them aware and asking them to let me know if anything further happened.
I got a nice email back from the younger son’s head of year (cc’ing the other), saying that they know both boys, and that he would be happy to find them and have a quick supporting (but also advisory) word with them later today.
I wrote back to say ‘thank you’ and to confirm that I trusted him and the school’s discernment as well.
So hopefully, that’ll be the end of it.
As for those who wondered if I might be being naïve with respect to my kids: I have always made it clear to all of them that they will be trusted, but they also have to earn that trust by making good decisions or at least owning up to bad ones. They also know that their parents will not automatically take either side in a dispute, but that we will do our best to discern what is right and true, and that they will be loved either way… even when they do mess up.
Hopefully, then, they know they can be honest, and I know, when I look into their eyes, if there is even a flicker of dishonesty. That said, I do NOT believe that my kids are right above all. They definitely aren’t, but we try to meet each situation as it comes up.
Finally, the thanks I started by offering, I really mean. I knew I could come on here and get good advice - and a range of opinions!
I'm not saying you are likening this thread to the wrong social media, I'm saying you could be likening it to the wrong social media.
I'm 100% sure that this is more like a mumsnet thread, and my kids would agree if they weren't at school and if anyone disagrees with what they agree with, I'll make them* wish they never logged on, (unless they had CCTV evidence of not logging on).
*a person in a shop
well..... I'm very disappointed. Did you make ANY freedom of information requests at all?!?! Did you even go and fight the shopkeeper for besmirching your Sons honour??
Pah - terrible parenting!
If anyone wants to chill, there’s another thread about biscuits featuring an actual biscuit scientist. Only that went a bit shit with the whole biscuit vs cake thing.
I'm still struggling to see what this has to do with the school, other than they had clothing on with a school name on. Going by that if I steal something wearing an Endura top on from tesco will they contact Endura?
The shop man has no right to get the school involved, he sounds a dick. I would awaited the school to contact me and question why they are even involved.
My youngest had a "handbag fight" over nothing with his best friend* after school on way home, a teacher became aware of this and put him and his friend on behaviour monitoring in school for a month. When I found out I asked why when it had nothing to do with school all happened out with the school grounds, neither of them reported it it anyone. Got a wishy washy reply that school standards etc. after a meeting with HT were they really couldn't give me reason why this should be happening they removed the monitoring and all record off his school file.
*They are still best friends 10yrs on
Oh the irony of Edukator calling somebody a troll when he ACTUALLY had troll put next to his name by STW instead of free member to warn everybody!
Wait, what's this? 😀
When I was little my mum drove past the owner of the local newsagent with us (me at 12 years old with twin brother) in the car while on the way to school. He leaned in the open window and said, "the next time you're in I need to talk to you about your children", and then walked off.
My mum spent the next thirty minutes demolishing my brother and me, before kicking us out of the car near the school, 15 minutes late.
Turns out when she went in later to apologise he told her that we were the politest children he'd ever had in the shop. I believe my mum still feels guilty.
What were the accused of lifting? If sweets you should get all 1970’s on them and make them eat their own body weights in said sweets. Just like when your dad caught you smoking and somehow thought the best course of action would be to make you chain smoke a 20 pack of B&H.
Ooh, even better one along those lines. Threaten to disown them both until they have lifted circa sixty percent of the stock in the store without being caught!
Whoever it was throwing accusations around and threatening to report my kids to the school on the word of another gang of kids. I couldn’t care less how much that person earns and its irrelevant anyway. I didn’t realise being on minimum wage makes it ok to threaten kids. If you don’t think defending your kids on things like this is the right thing to do you shouldn’t be a parent.
Ascertaining facts might be the best approach - or were you an angel as a kid ?
My youngest had a “handbag fight” over nothing with his best friend* after school on way home, a teacher became aware of this and put him and his friend on behaviour monitoring in school for a month. When I found out I asked why when it had nothing to do with school all happened out with the school grounds, neither of them reported it it anyone. Got a wishy washy reply that school standards etc.
Unfortunately quite a lot of parents actually expect (and/or need) schools to act like, well, parents.
They also know that their parents will not automatically take either side in a dispute, but that we
will ask on the internet first 😛
My two lads (aged about 13 & 14 at the time) were accused of shop lifting (sweets and biscuits). We were only told of this by mother of one of their friends who got caught by store security. When we spoke to the lads they said they were completely innocent.
When we contacted the store they said they had CCTV that proved otherwise and while we didn't see the footage they described the lads and what happened. Armed with this, we had another conversation with the lads and funnily enough they changed their story.
We also had a look at their phones and conversations they had with their friend after the event and that proved beyond doubt they were guilty as hell.
Taking their phone, PlayStations and grounding them was their punishment (and the shop banned them).
Taking their phone, PlayStations and grounding them was their punishment (and the shop banned them).
But they still got pudding?
You're soft.
OK, I'm done being an internet hard man. Today I'm an internet lawyer.
It's important to remember that GDPR isn't a needless piece of legislation the EU forces us to follow. In the digital age it is very necessary, especially when it comes to children. And it's doesn't just apply to asking for details online.
The shopkeeper was completely wrong to take your children's names and school without asking your permission first. In addition, they coerced your children into giving their names with the threat of it being worse for them if they didn't. It's an accepted fact that children are vulnerable to coercion because they have't had time to fully understand what their rights are.
You might say, 'but this is harmless and the shopkeeper is under a lot of pressure' and you'd probably be right. However, it's not a problem if a single kid steals a Mars bar for the shop It's a problem if every kid starts stealing a Mars bar. That's why shops have policies to prosecute no matter how little is stolen. It's the same with data security.
When most of us were at school it would have made no difference if the shopkeeper had our name or not. These days though, having the name and school of a child is much more risky.
Lets say a child molesting shopkeeper uses this method to screen potential victims. He says to a child, 'Those kids told me you were shoplifting. Give me your name and school and I'm going to call the headteacher.'
If the kid said, '**** off. Do that and I'll tell everyone you tried to touch me. Now give me all your Mars bars and a packet of Marlboros. Nonce!' then that it a child that is best left unmolested.
If, however, the child immediately bursts into tears and gives their full name, their address, and everything else including the name of their first pet then this child-molesting shopkeeper has found himself a potential victim.
With the name and school it's fairly easy to find whatever social media account the child uses and from there send them a message to say, 'Sorry about earlier. One of the boys confessed so there's no need to get in touch with the school. Sorry you were so upset, why don't you come by the shop tomorrow and you can have some free sweets to make up for it. No need to worry your parents about this, eh?'
I think the shopkeeper ****ed up big time and left themselves open to all kind of accusations. I would be thinking about mentioning this to the school and asking them to make sure local shops understand what they can and can't do if they think some of their pupils are shoplifting.
I'd be angry with the shop too, but I absolutely guarantee that a middle aged mountain biker coming into the shop and ranting about bombers, frozen sausages, and demanding the staff hand over their shoes will instill nothing like the same level of fear as the school calling up and saying, 'We've had reports you may be grooming school children. Can we check that you are operating in accordance with GDPR?'
Yes, the child molesting shopkeeper is an unlikely scenario in the same way stealing a single Mars bar is unlikely to lead to a shop going out of business. The problem comes when it becomes common for adults to ask for children's names and schools if they suspect them of committing a crime without the proper safeguards in place.
Jesus christ. Are you serious?
Which particular part are you finding triggering?
Wow....
I'm very much afraid he is. Clearly child protection was inadequate in times past, but like a lot of things these days the pendulum has swung completely in some people's minds & has gone as far as completely barking.
Which particular part are you finding triggering?
I think the bit where you weaved an elaborate fictional Paedophilia back story into a grumble about a misunderstanding with a shopkeeper.
(...and I just googled Paedophilia to find out how to spell it so that's gonna look great in my browsing history.)
How many of you tut when you hear news stories of kids that slipped through the nets designed to protect them? It’s often lots of little things going unnoticed, rather than one big thing.
BruceWee
Complete Member
Which particular part are you finding triggering?
The bit where you come across as a complete psycho....
How many of you tut when you hear news stories of kids that slipped through the nets designed to protect them? It’s often lots of little things going unnoticed, rather than one big thing.
My God you’re right! I’ve just realised that shopkeepers up and down the country have been guilty of enticing children onto their premises & providing them with sweeties. Why has nobody noticed this before? If that isn’t paedo behaviour then I don’t know what is.
"Two pin DIN plug"
😀
I've got to lie down now. Genius.
We’ve had reports you may be grooming school children
Can he do mine? The youngest ones hair is a right mess!
Reading this thread has reminded me why I'm no longer a scout leader.
The kids were mostly fine. The parents however...
The bit where you come across as a complete psycho….
OK. Good talk.
I see in true STW fashion the point has been completely missed.
The point is not that this scenario is particularly likely or plausible. The point is that if you normalise members of the public taking children's details because they may have been involved in a petty crime you are giving people access to these children in a way that was unimaginable 20 years ago.
If an old man suspected 12 year old me of knocking over his bins and took my details what was he going to do with them? Was he going to come into my room in the evening to have a chat? Any contact he had with me was going to have to go through my parents or the school. That protective barrier no longer exists.
Even without getting in touch directly, you can still find out a lot of information about people online. What sports they like, what clubs they go to, what their parents do for a living, etc.
I know in Brexit Britain we're getting rid of the red tape and sticking two fingers up to Brussels but let's maybe consider for a moment that this law wasn't brought in just to annoy you when visiting a website. Let's consider why it was deliberately made to be medium neutral and applies to however you gather and store data.
Let's also consider why it specifically mentions the risks to children.
But yeah, if you reckon it's just a stupid piece of Brussels bureaucracy then you should definitely go ahead and ignore it. However, if you're quite happy to ignore the rules you don't like, can you really complain that much when the kids ignore the rules they don't like and steal all your Mars bars?
i was wondering why the **** i was still reading this. then i got to the last page.
though, sort of agree with Bruce and definitely agree with Tom.
Reading this thread has reminded me why I’m no longer a scout leader.
I always found their handbook disturbingly titled
"Scouting for boys" 😯
My God you’re right! I’ve just realised that shopkeepers up and down the country have been guilty of enticing children onto their premises & providing them with sweeties. Why has nobody noticed this before? If that isn’t paedo behaviour then I don’t know what is.
The abuses in Rochdale/Bradford etc all started in takeaways.
The chances of a kid being fiddled with in a shop are near zero. The chances of a kid getting run over walking/cycling to a shop are terrifyingly high.
Let's get a grip and a sense of perspective.
As tomhoward says above don't underestimate the way some nasty pieces of work plan things. The Rochdale takeaway is not isolated, just one that made it to court and the papers. Sexual offences are very hard to find and prove.
It's a very small proportion of shopkeepers / takeaway staff but unfortunately they are in a lot of places.
What Bruce describes is pretty much how one of my old teachers used to groom kids, including my high school girlfriend. It is to my eternal shame that I didn’t believe her at the time, as he was such a nice guy.
Read about him here.
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/shelley-college-andrew-green-banned-9153546
That story is from 2015. I was there 1999-2003.
The chances of a kid being fiddled with in a shop are near zero. The chances of a kid getting run over walking/cycling to a shop are terrifyingly high.
Let’s get a grip and a sense of perspective.
I think there's a name for this particular debating tactic.
This doesn't just apply to shops. The point is not where it happens, the point is that it's dangerous to allow anyone to take children's details without a lawful reason.
Suspicion they may have committed a petty crime is not a lawful reason. Evidence that they have committed a crime is a different matter of course, but if there is evidence then you call the police and they follow the proper rules regarding data protection.
I'm not saying people need to be locked up if they take a child's details. However, they should be reminded that it is no longer allowed and why.
If they really need a child's details then it has to go through the parents. I'm not sure why that's so crazy.
.
As for those who wondered if I might be being naïve with respect to my kids: I have always made it clear to all of them that they will be trusted, but they also have to earn that trust by making good decisions or at least owning up to bad ones. They also know that their parents will not automatically take either side in a dispute, but that we will do our best to discern what is right and true, and that they will be loved either way… even when they do mess up.
Hopefully, then, they know they can be honest, and I know, when I look into their eyes, if there is even a flicker of dishonesty. That said, I do NOT believe that my kids are right above all. They definitely aren’t, but we try to meet each situation as it comes up.
My faith in parenthood is redeemed.
Much more so than causing a big reactionary row in a shop.
The Candy Man can cos he’s got a white van……..
The abuses in Rochdale/Bradford etc all started in takeaways.
Clearly we need to ban takeaways from serving children.
If they really need a child’s details then it has to go through the parents. I’m not sure why that’s so crazy.
How do they find the parents if the kids are shoplifting. Follow them home?
How do they find the parents if the kids are shoplifting. Follow them home?
Good question. Maybe you should write to your MP and start campaigning for the UK to abandon or change the GDPR rules. Brexit bonus and all that.
With the shortage of police it will do the country good for private citizens to take charge of policing and disciplining children.
The chances of anyone abusing the lack of oversight are very close to zero. A tiny percentage of kids will fall through the cracks but, like everything else, it's a price worth paying to be free from red tape.
Or maybe shops near schools could just put up signs saying, 'Max. 2 school kids in the shop at a time' instead of just randomly accusing children of shoplifting and illegally taking their details?
People make a big thing about child abuse but almost nobody takes a moment to stop and think about all the Mars bar injustice in the world.
Suspicion they may have committed a petty crime is not a lawful reason. Evidence that they have committed a crime is a different matter of course, but if there is evidence then you call the police
Yup, thats the realms for the police, school, social work to act in and nobody else, especially not shopkeepers.
They cannot do anything from pure suspicion, they actually have to find evidence, in which case they can detain, though that said, I couldnt say at what age that starts, but I suspect they can physically hold teenagers, but they have to inform the police to take matters like personal details.
Plenty of dodgy sobs out there, shopkeepers included. Dear old Mum to this day will never know why the manager of the local co-op would always be wiling to open the shop after it was closed when she sent me(aged 9) down to get something that she'd run out of.
Hope the kids had the sense to only shoplift the expensive sweets
Sweets? When I was very much younger, my mum took me and my younger brother down to Brean, she knew someone with a static caravan on one of the sites there. I used to regularly walk along the beach into Burnham and wander round the shops, WHSmith used to have a range of Hot Wheels cars, which were always fun.
I had quite a nice little collection after a while… 😙
I joined this site recently on the back of a conversation with a work colleague describing how often the most boring topics dissolve into those internet stereotypes of keyboard warriors, grandiosity, and plain insanity .. providing great unintentional comedy🤣
I had to see for myself.
Within days I got accused of being a Troll and being a person previously banned .. and subsequently Trolled by same said person😆
And then this seemingly mundane topic of school children shoplifting (despite their parent posting 1600 topics here). Thank you regulars of Single-track world for demonstrating all the stereotypes in one thread .. perfect; I'm hooked👌
BruceWee - according to the ICO
The UK GDPR applies to the processing of personal data that is:
wholly or partly by automated means; or
the processing other than by automated means of personal data which forms part of, or is intended to form part of, a filing system.
If the shopkeeper is asking names so that they can phone the school, so the names will not form part of a filing system and will not be subject to automated processing, how is GDPR applicable?
Within days I got accused of being a Troll
Most here joined because they're into bikes. but not yourself it seems. So what then is your motivation for joining this hotbed of keyboard warriors.
" providing great unintentional comedy🤣 "
So by your own volition, you've joined to post and get a rise out of people, simply for your own entertainment 😕
Internet forums are always arguing with each other. From social media like twitter or facebook through to specific hobby and interest forums such as there.
In another forum im on we've a specific off topic section for 'controversial topics' and it quite a place of argument, so this on the only 'chat' section is not unexpected so you joined to do what exactly 😕 To add to it ?.
So given all that I wouldnt think being labeled a troll yourself was that far from the mark.
If the shopkeeper is asking names so that they can phone the school, so the names will not form part of a filing system and will not be subject to automated processing, how is GDPR applicable?
Good question. If you can decide whether writing the name and school down on a piece of paper constitutes a filing system then you're a better internet lawyer than I am.
A method of storing and organising information to enable easy identification and retrieval of information. The term filing system may have specific definitions under certain jurisdictions data protection laws. Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for example, a filing system is defined as any structured set of personal data that are accessible according to specific criteria whether centralised, decentralised or dispersed on a functional or geographical basis (Article 4(6) and Recital 15). The GDPR applies to the processing of personal data by both automated and manual means provided that the personal data are contained, or are intended to be contained, in a filing system. For further information, see Practice note, Overview of EU General Data Protection Regulation: Nature and scope of the EU data protection regime: Material scope.
As an internet lawyer I have to say I'm getting a bit out of my depth when it comes to exactly how the specifics of this two year old law is applied.
However, I think if you want to look at the spirit of the law and what it is designed to protect, ie, that in the online world we are far more vulnerable and that this especially applies to children, then taking the details of children without their parents consent is questionable.
But hey, if you're cool with any member of the public being able to demand personal information from your kids without a lawful reason then you have absolutely nothing to be concerned about.
Seriously though, would it not be easier to just put a sign in the window?
range of Hot Wheels cars, which were always fun.
I had quite a nice little collection after a while…
Probably explains your stint working for BCA!
Username that translates as Chosen One thinks they are better than the people they are choosing to wind up for their own entertainment.
Whoda thunk it?
I can't wait for the high court case to determine whether a post-it note constitutes a filing system. We're down to the nitty gritty now.
I can’t even work out if this thread is now about kids stealing, GDPR or all shop keepers being paedos - it’s hard to keep up!
I can’t wait for the high court case to determine whether a post-it note constitutes a filing system. We’re down to the nitty gritty now.
Yes, as always the important thing is to figure out the exact wording of the law so that the internet lawyers can 'win' the argument.
Whether random people coercing kids into giving up their personal details constitutes a risk in the digital age or not is a mere irrelevancy.
What if he just remembered their names in his brain? The organic filing system.
As an internet lawyer I have to say I’m getting a bit out of my depth when it comes to exactly how the specifics of this two year old law is applied.
most of the rules in GDPR were in the 1988 DPA - including the concept that it needn't only apply to electronic records. Only a court could decide if it applies to a particular circumstance, that will actually depend more on what you do with the note you took rather than where or how that note was recorded. Scribbled on a bit of till roll, phone call made to school, record destroyed - not really a GDPR/DPA issue. Recorded in a security guards log book and held on file pending for three years to support prosecutions, almost certainly in scope! Like throwing the FOI Act at schools, throwing GDPR at corner shops to try and win the argument is stupid - and you run the risk of looking stupid if the owner (who if they have CCTV may well be more GDPR aware than you!) points out that you are talking bollocks.
However, I think if you want to look at the spirit of the law and what it is designed to protect, ... then taking the details of children without their parents consent is questionable.
Except that:
1. GDPR provides 5 reasons for processing information without the consent of the data subject anyway, e.g. I'd be quite sure that the prevention of shoplifting is a legitimate interest of the shopkeeper.
2. If consent had been the lawful basis for processing, then parental consent is only required for <13's in the UK (so at least the older child is not in scope) and only then for "information society services" which is definitely not what writing your details on a piece of paper is.
There's so much bullshit about GDPR that adding to it by saying the shopkeepers can't ask for the details of children they suspect of shoplifting really isn't going to help. Rather than add to children's protections, its that sort of myth that will mean Dominic Rab is proposing abolishing data protection rights next.
But hey, if you’re cool with any member of the public being able to demand personal information from your kids without a lawful reason then you have absolutely nothing to be concerned about.
Except that it could be a lawful reason! They could of course have refused to provide it. He'd likely still have known which school they were from anyway - given they were likely in uniform, and most probably has pictures on a CCTV system that a determined shopkeeper could take to the school who would be able to identify them (and then probably ignore)...
I don't suggest you take up grooming children though - I am sure there are far simpler ways than scaring kids to tell you their name!
I wonder if this thread has worked out the way the OP anticipated?