One day, my friend Samantha and I were walking through a mall. I had just turned 17, and my grandparents sent me some birthday money to spend. Samantha and I went shopping that day. We entered various stores, either purchasing or just glancing around. We carried bags of purchases in and out of stores, but at this mall they had a policy that I had never heard of. When we entered stores, we had to put our bags of purchases from other stores behind the counter of the cashier. Sam and I were surprised at this. We asked the employees at each store why we must do this, unsure of this policy. They all told us the same thing, "store policy." We did as we were asked and continued to walk around the store. We saw other groups of kids our age come in, and the same thing was done as well. As all of this was happening, two adults, older than us, more likely to be in their thirties, walked in as they pleased. They held their bags in their hands the whole time they were in the store, no questions asked. Many adults walked in without a problem. I couldn't understand what the meaning of this was. Little did I know I was facing a social oppression I was unaware of called adultism.
             Adultism is the oppression of young people that happens from the day they are born. It is based on age and is presented by the attitudes of adults who surround young people, such as teachers and parents. Adultism can result, or be expressed through many things, such as stereotyping young adults as lazy, mean, angry, and silly, not including young people into decisions made at home and in the classroom, and the failure of supporting young adults' development by not being a positive influence or putting in time to talk to us and see what is going on in our lives today.
             Memmi's theory of racism can be applied to adultism as well. There are many situations in which people face the same prejudices for being young adults tha...